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0027 <br /> VI. Recommendations and Further Research Needs <br /> Over the last seven years, the Water Resources Committee had the opportunity <br /> to receive many presentations and examine much newfound data about the <br /> County's ground water resources. Prior to this work, very little was known about <br /> this resource that is often "out of sight, out of mind" until problems arise. <br /> The pursuit of these data itself is one of the Committee's proudest legacies, and <br /> the Committee commends the Board of Commissioners for having the foresight <br /> to be proactive in investigating ground water issues in the County. <br /> On several occasions, representatives from other jurisdictions and agencies in <br /> North Carolina and around the nation have expressed admiration and at times, <br /> surprise, that a local government with no known ground water problems would <br /> undertake such a proactive review. In almost every case, it has been reaction to <br /> ground water contamination or overuse of supplies that has generated the type <br /> of resource analysis undertaken here. The County can be proud of its proactive <br /> stance in evaluating ground water quantity and quality before problems arise. <br /> The money spent to study our resource and obtain these data will undoubtedly <br /> Yield many benefits in years to come — benefits that will greatly outweigh the <br /> cost of research. <br /> As a result of this work, the County has gone from little or no knowledge about <br /> ground water resources to a substantial database on the resource, one that <br /> grows every day as new well data is compiled and added to the database. The <br /> three USGS cooperative reports provide a wealth of information about ground <br /> water — information that may not make for exciting reading, but will be of great <br /> value in years to come, as increased demand mounts pressure on our ground <br /> water supplies. The value of having performed this analysis now, without the <br /> pressure of a crisis, may be tenfold in the future. <br /> As the Board of Commissioners consider this report, and the Commission <br /> for the Environment takes up the mantle of considering policy <br /> recommendations for ground water(and eventually integration of surface <br /> water and ground water protection into a comprehensive Water Resources <br /> Element of the Comprehensive Plan), the Water Resources Committee offers <br /> the following recommendations: <br /> 20 <br />