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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 15, 2008 <br />Action Agen a . <br />Item No. <br />SUBJECT: Water Conservation Priorities and Initiatives <br />DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ERCD <br />ATTACHMENT: INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Craig Benedict, Planning Director, 245- <br />1. Resolution of Adoption (page 5) 2592 <br />2. OWASA Letter to Elected Boards David Stancil, ERCD, 245- 2598 <br />Regarding Recommendation for <br />Water Conservation (Page 6) <br />PURPOSE: To receive the "Collaborative Water Conservation Strategies for Joint <br />Consideration by Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County," approve the attached resolution <br />regarding general support for interlocal water conservation strategies, including OWASA's <br />pursuit of water use efficiency conditions of service, and to direct staff to continue collaborative <br />work on these water conservation initiatives. <br />BACKGROUND: This summary report represents the consensus of an interlocal staff work <br />group that OWASA convened in August 2006 to consider potential water conservation <br />strategies. Following the receipt of information from OWASA in February 2006 about projected <br />water supply and demand trends and the increasing importance of conservation in meeting <br />long-term water. needs, the elected boards of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County asked <br />that OWASA staff work with their respective staffs in developing information and recommending <br />specific actions that would enable the Towns, County, and OWASA to promote greater <br />conservation of the community's water resources. <br />This summary is drawn from a more comprehensive document prepared by OWASA staff and <br />reviewed by the joint staff work group (Collaborative Water Conservation Strategies for Joint <br />Consideration by Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County -Draft, January 2008). That report <br />provides substantial detail about a range of opportunities in addition to those specifically <br />recommended in this summary report by the joint staff work group. <br />The need for water conservation strategies with the other water providers in the County has <br />been periodically discussed during the past few years. In particular, this topic was addressed in <br />part by the Water Conservation Ordinance Subcommittee, created from the Eno Confluence II <br />in October 2006. Staff plans to explore this dialogue further with the Town of Hillsborough, <br />