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Commissioner Price said she recalls the planning board asking for additional <br /> information about the impact of new developments on water tables after the 1996 report. She <br /> remembers being told that there was a way to look at this, but it would cost thousands of <br /> dollars, and it was not possible to deny development based on water availability. She asked if <br /> the County is now headed toward putting in development regulations based on water <br /> resources. <br /> Chair Jacobs said this situation was what raised the issue to the County <br /> Commissioners. <br /> Commissioner Price said there are other locations with regulations based on water <br /> availability. <br /> Chair Jacobs said this is one of the reasons that public hearings are valuable to the <br /> Board, as it allows them to hear public concerns, and it raises issues that might not have been <br /> heard otherwise. He said this is not just a scientific investigation; but there was some hope or <br /> intention that this would result in an impact on where things are sited. <br /> Commissioner Price questioned whether they have a right to regulate this. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said when she was on the Commissioner for the Environment <br /> she was told that there was another County that has its zoning areas designated based on re- <br /> charge rates. <br /> Dave Stancil said Guilford County is the only other county where this level of detail has <br /> been done. <br /> Chair Jacobs said there was some discussion of this when the rural buffer was formed. <br /> He said it would be nice to have a narrative to go with this and to work toward making this a <br /> utilitarian effort. <br /> Dave Stancil said staff can provide some context and work with Craig Benedict to show <br /> how the protocol relates to the questions that have been asked. <br /> Tom Davis said data collection is on-going, and it would be good to install an automatic <br /> rain gauge to get the precipitation information. He said he has prepared annual reports, and <br /> these are available on-line. <br /> Tom Davis said there has been a lot of inedia coverage about hydrilla in the Eno River. <br /> He said a task force has been formed to work on this issue, and they are working toward <br /> developing a two year management study to address this issue. He anticipates coming to the <br /> Board in the future to request funding for this. <br /> 4. Jordan Lake Allocation Application <br /> Kevin Lindley said this process has been going on for several years in developing an <br /> allocation request. He said there is an existing one million gallon per day allocation with <br /> Jordan Lake and the County has been paying a maintenance amount of$2,200 per year for <br /> this allocation. He said this is a level two allocation, which means it is not planned to be used <br /> in the near future. He reviewed the following background information from the abstract: <br /> BACKGROUND: Orange County is in the process of applying for an increase in its existing <br /> Jordan Lake Allocation. The County currently holds an allocation of 1.0 million gallons per day <br /> (MGD) and is applying for an additional 0.5 MGD. This allocation is meant to provide a secure <br /> water supply through the year 2045 for portions of the County designated for economic <br /> growth. <br /> The County does not have a public water utility and there are no plans to develop a water <br /> utility service. Rather, the County will rely upon municipalities located adjacent to the economic <br /> development regions to provide the finished water. The Jordan Lake Allocation will be used to <br /> supplement the water supply of these municipalities, as needed. <br />