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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-06-2002 - 5d 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 6, 2002 Action Agen a Item No. SUBJECT: Resolution to Continue Water Conservation Practices DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Thames, County Engineer, ext Resolution 2303 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: As per the request of the BOCC, provide a resolution for Board review and approval endorsing the continuation of efforts and strategies to conserve potable water supplies in Orange County. BACKGROUND: For the last six months, Orange County has been severely impacted by prolonged and severe drought and ensuing shortages of potable water affecting residents depending on individual ground water and municipal-type surface water supplies. The County and the water suppliers have worked closely together to develop strategies (public education on water conservation techniques, installing water conservation devices on plumbing fixtures, etc.) and restrictions to protect the public health and welfare by prolonging the life of the area's water supplies through the drought period. It now seems, with the appearance of unseasonably early and unusually copious rainfalls of late, that the drought may be broken and the water supplies replenished. However, all of Orange County now knows that the threat of drought is real and that the heretofore unthinkable possibility that an entire region could run out of potable water is a credible threat to the public welfare. In dealing with the drought situation, the BOCC has recognized both the possibility of dire water shortage and the availability of simple technologies and strategies that can enable everyone to conserve a significant portion of the community's potable water demand. Accordingly, the Board has determined to adopt a resolution recommending and requesting that residents and water providers of Orange County remain vigilant for the possibility of disaster as well as to continue to develop and implement the strategies necessary to avert that disaster by conserving potable water supplies by all practicable means. 2 FINANCIAL IMPACT: None RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board review and adopt the resolution in its current form or as may be revised and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution. 3 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS A Resolution Advocating the Continuation of Interlocal Efforts Fostering Conservation of Potable Water WHEREAS, Orange County and central North Carolina have of late been severely impacted by prolonged and severe drought and ensuing shortages of potable water affecting residents depending on individual ground water and municipal-type surface water supplies; and WHEREAS,the experiences of Orange County, its water providers and residents have demonstrated that the uncertainties of weather and rainfall patterns, when combined with inefficient or wasteful water use practices, can create severe shortages in potable water supplies to the extent that the public health and welfare is seriously jeopardized; and WHEREAS, the language, terms, requirements and conditions of the various drought and emergency water use regulations and ordinances applicable to the customers of the various water providers operating within Orange County need to be examined for clarity and coordination between the various water providers and their respective service areas; and WHEREAS, Orange County, in discharging its statutory responsibilities to protect and enhance the public health, safety and welfare of all the residents of Orange County, does have a strong interest in assuring the availability of a high quality supply of potable water; and WHEREAS, Orange County owns and operates Lake Orange, a water supply reservoir that serves as a primary water supply for the Town of Hillsborough and the Orange- Alamance Water System; and WHEREAS, Orange County coordinates the use of water supplies drawn from the Eno River under the provision of the Eno River Capacity Use Agreement; and WHEREAS, Orange County has sponsored, in cooperation with the US Geological Survey, two studies of the ground water resources in Orange County; and WHEREAS, Orange County seeks to ensure that the demand for potable water supplies generated by the County's existing population as well as population growth and development can be reconciled with availability of those supplies; and WHEREAS, Orange County seeks to ensure the responsible and farsighted use of effective but relatively simple strategies and technology that exist to reduce demand and enhance availability of potable water supplies for the County's existing population as well as population growth; and 4 WHEREAS, the residents of Orange County are provided municipal water utility services by the Town of Hillsborough, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the City of Durham, the City of Mebane and the Orange-Alamance Water System; and WHEREAS, the water distribution systems of the Town of Hillsborough, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the City of Durham, the City of Mebane and the Orange- Alamance Water System are interconnected; and WHEREAS, in time of need, treated water has been and is still transferred to,between and through the water distribution systems of the Town of Hillsborough, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the City of Durham, the City of Mebane and the Orange- Alamance Water System; and WHEREAS, Orange County participates in an ongoing dialogue with the Town of Hillsborough, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the City of Durham, the City of Mebane and the Orange-Alamance Water System about watershed protection, water conservation and extension of utilities; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby request and recommend that all of the major water utility providers to the residents of Orange County(the Town of Hillsborough, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the City of Durham, the City of Mebane and the Orange-Alamance Water System), and all individual residents whose homes and businesses are provided potable water supplies by ground water wells, continue to be mindful of the need to conserve potable water supplies and seek out, implement and use those readily available and simple strategies and technology that will reduce the demand for potable water supplies to the extent practicable. This is the 6th day of November, 2002 Barry Jacobs, Chair Orange County Board of Commissioners