INC NEWS - stopping growth and conservation measures

[Melissa Rooney]

Randy, I don't necessarily think that development
should be STOPPED. But Durham can do it
better...incorporating conservation (water, energy,
topography, vegetation) into the regulations, as well
as funding for infrastructure -- especially schools
(as evidenced by Creeksides >40 % overcrowding).
Chapel Hill does it, and the developers keep building
there. Durham citizens deserve better, and we should
stop settling for less.

Melissa

--- RW Pickle <randy at 27beverly.com> wrote:

> While stopping growth sounds like a good idea, it
> doesn't make cents.
> Forget the water for a moment, it's a temporary
> thing and the first time
> such a shortage has ever happened. It's not because
> we're growing at such
> a fast pace the amount of water can't keep up with
> it. We've just been
> through one of the worst droughts on record, so
> there's bound to be a
> water shortage. Why? Because there has been no water
> coming from the sky.
> I see it as a wake up call. Now we know it can
> happen, we can work to fix
> it. There's plenty of water out there, it's just not
> in the right places.
> Just envision a pipeline from the coast and think
> about how much water is
> there. It's all just a temporary problem. Other
> areas of our planet are in
> much greater need for water then we will ever be.
> Just fixing the leaking
> water pipes (earlier this year) would have given us
> a additional month
> even in this drought. raising the dam at Lake Mickie
> (in elevation) would
> add an enormous amount of volume to our supply.
> Connecting the region
> would do the same thing. Then water becomes a
> regional concern instead of
> just for one community. And if it were to rain for a
> month, we'd all
> forget that we ever had a shortage and normal
> use/waste (I bet) would
> return. That's where conservation comes in.
> 
> What we should begin to do immediately is to
> implement a conservation
> model for water use. Use less, pay less. It's a
> known fact that hitting
> the pocketbooks of users for whatever service leads
> them to conserve. And
> it rewards those who practice conservation even if
> there is plenty of
> water to go around. We have to come up with a
> different model that allows
> our City to continue to collect/plan for expansion
> and repairs. As it is
> now, with revenues on a decline, the additional
> funding will have to come
> from somewhere. Any guess where that'll be? Us of
> course. All the bills
> are paid by us.  That's why there has to be a new
> revenue model initiated
> in order to balance the funding formulas. I read
> today that there was a
> surplus of $70M in the water fund account. That
> sounds like a big number,
> but that's only 700,000 feet. According to the same
> article, we have
> 881,000+ feet of aged, leaking pipes to replace. So
> that's not even enough
> to fix what we need to fix...
> 
> We need to continue to grow our tax base. No growth
> means higher taxes.
> Just this week figures were released that placed NC
> eighth on the fastest
> growing states (by population). People are going to
> continue to come, so
> they'll all need a place to live. That is, if we
> want our regional economy
> to continue to flourish. And growth in our neck of
> the woods means the
> companies here are growing or new ones are moving
> here. Stopping growth,
> stops growth. And growth is a good thing. The other
> side of the coin from
> growth is a bad place to be. Look around the country
> in the larger cities
> where the economy is depressed. That's a bad place
> to be right now...
> 
> I don't see us running out of water. With every
> rain, we get more. And
> with this being the slow season for water use, it
> gives the City time to
> legislate what we can do and not do with the water
> we do have. In other
> parts of the country, they make people with pools
> and irrigation systems
> install wells (instead of using the city-treated
> drinking water). Both of
> those ideas, used in other cities, make sense. And
> I'm sure there are
> more. We're not the first city to have a water
> shortage. What the others
> did when they came to this same bridge holds some
> better ways in which to
> deal with it in the future.
> 
> If you're not collecting the rain water we get, then
> that's one step you
> can take today to aid your the use of water. Every
> time it rains (even a
> little bit), the barrels fill back up. They're all
> running over now, so
> what spills out will make its way downstream to our
> empty reservoirs. When
> I need it, I have around 325 gal. (soon to be 450+)
> at my disposal. It's
> such a simple thing to do. I'd be curious to know
> how many people on this
> list use rain barrels. Don't just talk the talk,
> walk the walk. All
> conservation begins with you.
> 
> RWP
> 27 Beverly
> 
> 
> 
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