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Dave Stancil said part of the big picture is that more time is needed to do a full <br /> analysis. He said a system has been set up and in 5 or 10 years there will be a lot more <br /> analysis to draw from. <br /> Commissioner Gordon referred to page 3 of the report, and asked for clarification about <br /> the casing depth numbers. <br /> Commissioner McKee said the top of the casing is above sea level. <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked about the two state groundwater wells and whether this <br /> data is used. <br /> Tom Davis said that data is not being used. <br /> Chair Jacobs said one of the reasons this started in the first place was because of an <br /> incident where residents on Arthur Minnis Road reported adverse impact to their wells as a <br /> result of the development of a new subdivision. He hopes this data is being provided to the <br /> planning department. He said one of the goals of the Commissioners was to use this data to <br /> respond to citizen's concerns, and that is why he supported doing these measures, not to <br /> gather abstract data. <br /> Commissioner Rich said it would have been nice to have had the history of this to put <br /> the discussion into context. <br /> Chair Jacobs noted that this is also an initiative of the Commission for the Environment. <br /> Commissioner Gordon shared some background history, and suggested an executive <br /> summary be provided. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked if any of these wells are close to commercial wells. <br /> Tom Davis said no. <br /> Commissioner McKee said unless you site a monitoring well near a commercial well, <br /> you will not get the information you want. He said these other wells do not accommodate the <br /> draw of a commercial well, which answers the questions about the impact of drilling a well for a <br /> subdivision. He asked if there are any commercial wells around. <br /> Chair Jacobs said Orange Alamance has a commercial well. <br /> Commissioner McKee said a monitoring well needs to be sited in this location, and data <br /> can then be gathered to determine what the commercial well is doing to the water table in that <br /> area. <br /> Dave Stancil said this might be an option. He said this is a long topic, and what people <br /> want to know is how new wells affect the water on their own lot. He said the nature of the <br /> underlying geology makes this very tricky, and it will take more years of data to really get <br /> answers. <br /> Commissioner McKee agreed that more years of data are needed, but he thinks a <br /> monitoring well should be drilled next to a commercial well to look at the trend for that <br /> groundwater level. <br /> Dave Stancil said he will look at whether there is an opportunity to do this. <br /> Chair Jacobs said Orange Alamance drilled these wells fairly recently and there was <br /> concern over what this would do to area water levels. <br /> Craig Benedict said Orange Alamance water systems chose not to use these wells as <br /> prime wells but to buy water from the Mebane/Graham system. He said this subject has been <br /> around since the 1990's. He said the underlying geography makes it very hard to predict the <br /> impact from one lot to the next, but he goal is to see if there are trends over the long term as it <br /> relates to the lowering of the ground water. <br /> Commissioner McKee said his request is moot if these commercial wells are not being <br /> regularly used. He asked if there are any operating commercial wells in Orange County. <br /> Craig Benedict said there are two categories of commercial well. He said one of these <br /> includes a subdivision with a centralized well. He said it may be possible to take a look at <br /> these to do monitoring well in an adjacent private well. <br />