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_,.S ~ .~~~ 52i On May 8, 1853 the State Stream Sanitation Commission officially reclassified the Eno River to Class A-II. On December 31, 1963 the II. S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a survey report on the Neuse River Basin "tv present a general plan of development of the water and related land reaouraea of the Neuse River Basin". One of the recommendations of the survey was "the construction of a dam across Eno River in Ih~rham County". No attempt will be made here to document all the dates involved in the long series of land acquisitions by Durham on the Eno. I can personally recall one inoident not long after my arrival in Durham nine years ago. Our Water Resources Department reported to City Council that a large tract had come on the market to be sold in settling an estate. City Council bought it. I can recall a later inoident. On a Monday morning Mr. Wade frown, our Director of Water Resources, came puffing into my office with news that a city employee had during the weekend notices a spot on the Eno where trees had been bulldozed down and a sign hung up: "Lots for Sale". City Council bought the lots. Spending money for the benefit of future generations, is not always the moat popular thing for an elected governing body to do, but Durham City Council has had the foresight and fortitude to do it. The future Lake ~,~1o has always been thought of as a significant recreational reaourae as well as a water supply - just as Durham's Lake T+fi.chie (on the Flat River) is used extensively for fishing, boating, picnicking and other outings. Within the past ten years Durham City Council conceived the additional idea oP preserving large acreage along the Eno River for a permanent riverside park in the area due north of the present city limits where no lake is ever contemplated. At City e~spenae plena were developed by a landscape arohitect. City money was earmarked for the project. The North Carolina State Recreation Commission concurred in the plena and recommended approval of a federal grant to help finance land acquisition. .The federal government concurred in the project and provj,ded half of the required funds. Land was bought. At that stage Durham City Council had initiated and accepted the responsibility for preaerroing these major portions of the mo River Basin, foreseeing the growth of Durham and the long-range significance of future water supply and open apace. In more resent years with accelerated residential and commercial growth taking plsae south and north of the river City Council has responded with an accelerated land acquisition program. This has been fully supported by the Research Triangle Regional. Planning Cvmtnj.saion, the North Carolina Recreation Commission, the North Carolina Department of Administration, the 'Cni.ted States $ureau of Outdoor Recreation and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Although Durham County is not in the park business, a member of the Board of County Commissioners and his wife have generously donated large tracts of land.) Every decision by Durham City Council to move forward on the Eno River has been taken in a.publia meeting with full opportunity for citizen participation. There have been many such deaisiona by the Council in many meeting a. In April, 1969 the Research Triangle Regional Planning Commission published "Research Triangle Region Development Guide". The following is quoted from page.81: "There are two major alternatives in the timing of development of additional water for the Chapel. Aill-Durham area. The first is the construction initially of a reservoir on the Eno River west of Guess Road. A reservoir in this location could supply up to 50 MoD; the site has long been identified as a potential reservoir, and Durham City has underway a program of land acquisition in the area. The Eno Reservoir construction would be followed by construction or utilization oP a number of smaller sources or other Neuse tributaries, staged in one ar another of several possible aequenoes. The second 'taajor alternative essentially is the reverse sequeaae, construction of the smaller sources followed'by construction oP the Ena Reservoir. With present reahnology and present eoonomica of water use, it is probable that ell of these scuraea will be necessary in the future. The question is not 'which but rather 'when'... -- 2n any event, regardless of timing land for all the potential reservoir sites should be obtained or definitely reserved just as soon as possible. Faeh will be needed at some time. Durham has a land acquisition program underway for the Eno - in part for stream park areas and 3n part for the reservoir areas. This should be continued." i -- ._~'