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below spilling. Nine feet four inches is what it takes to go into stage 6 water <br /> restrictions. Due to the rain over the weekend, Lake Orange fell only one inch <br /> over three days when normally it would have fallen three inches. As of today, <br /> Lake Orange was eight inches below spilling. He said that it is very unlikely that <br /> we would reach stage 6 restrictions before next week. As a staff, he said that <br /> they have been talking about how to educate citizens about water conservation <br /> before we get into a situation such as Moore County. There have been some <br /> wells that have dried up in the County and the Department of Environmental <br /> Health is tracking this. These are mostly old, hand dug, and marginal wells. The <br /> staff is proposing that we convert the County's old groundwater phone line into a <br /> drought related hotline for people to call in about well failure. <br /> Paul Thames said that the rain now could give people false hope, but the <br /> drought will continue and possibly get worse. The surface water problem could <br /> be resolved and the ground water problem could have a lag and get worse later. <br /> Chair Jacobs arrived at this time at 8:00 p.m. <br /> Paul Thames talked about stage 6 restrictions and said that the drought <br /> ordinance for stage 6 says that we begin water rationing. Since Hillsborough's <br /> reservoir has about 100 days of water left, it puts them in a much better situation. <br /> Orange-Alamance still relies on Lake Orange. Orange-Alamance has been able <br /> to arrange temporary purchases from Mebane and Graham. He said that no <br /> utility is ready to talk about water rationing; and if they cut a large percentage of <br /> the water out, their costs still remain the same. The other part is if a utility was to <br /> initiate a water-rationing program at an inconvenience to its customers, and they <br /> did not run out of water, then the public would backlash at the utility. He said that <br /> what the Town of Hillsborough has adopted for its stage 6 restrictions is about all <br /> you are going to see from anybody. None of the other surrounding cities in other <br /> counties have prohibited the outside use of water yet. He believes that Durham <br /> is in worse shape than Hillsborough or OWASA. <br /> John Link asked Paul Thames to speak to the items on pages 5 & 6. Paul <br /> Thames said that they had talked about having another press conference before <br /> they go into stage 6 because the press seems very interested in the water <br /> stages. He wants to publicize these water restrictions and conservation ideas <br /> through the website and through a press conference. He would also like to use <br /> the press conference to advertise the proposed hotline about water issues and to <br /> publicize the use of paper plates. They were also thinking about having a drive <br /> for bottled water and paper plates for people in financial hardship that may have <br /> water through a utility that is participating in rationing. <br /> John Link asked Paul Thames to expand on the recommendations that <br /> can be adopted by the County in their own facilities such as turning off water <br /> fountains and using water coolers and providing hand-sanitizing materials that do <br /> not require water. The Health Department requires the use of soap and water <br /> where food is handled. <br /> Lastly, Paul Thames said that they thought they may have more restricted <br /> regulations dealing with stage 6, but the only one that the Town of Hillsborough <br /> has adopted is for motels to ask customers to use the same sheets for more than <br /> one day. He said that they had proposed making single service plates required <br />