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appointments should be made upon recommendations of the towns <br /> and DAWS. <br /> The Board must be appropriately staffed with a Water <br /> Resources Planner. This staff position would initially be <br /> placed in the Orange County Planning Department, given the <br /> department' s role in watershed protection and need for <br /> cooperation from service providers in land use planning. This <br /> planner would have the sole responsibilities of providing <br /> technical and staff support for the Board and advancing the <br /> creation of a County-wide water plan. <br /> To avoid the criticism that this Board is simply another <br /> advisory body with abstract goals, responsibilities must be <br /> spelled out with as much clarity as possible. The Long Range <br /> Water Management Strategy Committee has identified five <br /> initial charges: <br /> 1 ) The Board should pursue an allocation from Jordan Lake <br /> on behalf of the County and its water providers. <br /> The Environmental Management Commission is poised <br /> to establish the application procedures for <br /> allocation in the immediate future. Most likely, <br /> the Division of Water Resources will begin <br /> processing applications as soon as the rules are <br /> approved, and do so for a set amount of time. The <br /> water providers in Orange County cannot afford to <br /> let this opportunity for joint action pass. <br /> 2) The Board should pursue interlocal agreements with water <br /> providers in Alamance County. <br /> The fractured nature of water provision in Orange <br /> County has been one obstacle to establishing <br /> purchase agreements with Alamance County water <br /> providers. Investing this Board with the authority <br /> to seek an agreement should remedy this problem. <br /> 3) The Board should be the body to work with the consulting <br /> engineers on Phase II of the Orange County Water Supply <br /> Study, which will focus on more precise engineering and <br /> cost data for the reservoir site recommended by the <br /> Orange County Reservoir Site Committee. <br /> Among the action the Board should take as part of <br /> this charge is to establish strategic and financial <br /> mechanisms for the acquisition of the reservoir <br /> site or other long term source of water . Mechanisms <br /> the Committee discussed included charging user fees <br /> for water from Lake Orange. <br /> 4) The Board should work cooperatively with the various <br /> water and sewer service providers and municipalities in <br /> the County to identify and develop a joint agreement on <br /> the service area boundaries of all water providers <br /> serving Orange County residents, including Mebane and <br /> Durham. <br /> P, - <br />