INC NEWS - stopping growth and conservation measures

Sat Dec 29 17:59:22 EST 2007

I saw magnetic (?) signs on the Water/Sewer Dept. trucks the other day as
they were fixing a water leak over here. I don't recall exactly what they
said, but it was relative to our current water conservation measures. As
they drive around each day, perhaps others see the signs as well.

RWP
27 Beverly

> One can monitor near real-time data for inflows at Lake Michie
> http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv?site_no=02085500
>
> and at Little River:
> http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv?site_no=0208521324
>
> Despite the recent rains, the inflows are still way below median for this
> time of year, and very close to, or below, historic lows for this time of
> year. Essentially, we are still not adding enough water to our reservoirs
> to keep up with daily demand, despite that demand is down nearly 25% from
> this time last year.
>
> Rain barrels are useful. If you get 10 of them around the house, you can
> store almost an entire unit of water (750 gallons or so). Unfortunately,
> all you can do with that water is irrigate your plants and yard. You can't
> bathe with it, cook with it, clean your clothes with it, and you certainly
> can't drink it. Most people, as well, will not have 10 rain barrels around
> the house.
>
> This is the third year of the last 7 that we have experienced significant
> shortfalls in rain totals, especially during the summer and fall when
> demand is highest. Bringing the Teer Reservoir on line will add around 2
> months to our supply when it is filled, but that may take a while. Durham
> is allowed to take as much as 5 million gallons per day from the Eno to
> fill the Teer Reservoir, but only if the Eno still has flows of 10 million
> gallons per day afterwards.
>
> Interesting that increasing supply of water is a community effort, but
> reducing demand for water falls on individuals only. How much sense does
> that make?
>
> By the way, in driving through Orange County the past couple of days, i
> saw numerous signs posted by OWASA reminding people that mandatory
> conservation measures were in effect. I have not seen a single sign like
> that in Durham County.
>
> Barry Ragin
> ---- Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> =============
> 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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