Agenda - 01-31-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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s ��•�r•Yr e-�T — / - 3 �-- q / Orange Water and Sewer Authority 400 Jones Ferry Road OWASA P.O. Box 366 Carrboro, NC 27510 (919) 968 -4421 Comments to the Orange County Board of Commissioners Public Hearing on Legislative Proposals Superior Court Room, Hillsborough January 31, 1991 PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO REQUIRE A PERMIT FOR THE INTERBASIN TRANSFER OF WATER Good evening. My name is Edward Holland. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors. The North Carolina Legislative Research Commission has endorsed a bill to require permits for certain interbasin transfers of water. OWASA is opposed to this or any other bill to regulate interbasin transfers unless the proposal is for a through examination of North Carolina's water management needs and for legislation on water use permitting, instream flow protection, and interbasin transfer. We will support a bill that addresses the broader range of water withdrawals. Regulating interbasin transfers separately from other types of water uses will not resolve conflicts, and will not prevent depletion or misuse of the state's waters. According to the North Carolina Division of Water Resources, the consumptive use of water by municipalities, industries, irrigators, and electric power plants has a greater effect on downstream water availability than does interbasin transfer. The logical approach to managing interbasin transfer is to include it as one of several elements in a comprehensive permitting program. Many states are now taking this approach, rather than setting up separate regulatory programs for interbasin transfers or other individual elements of water law. The legislative study committee that proposed this bill received no evidence whatsoever that any existing or proposed interbasin • transfers in North Carolina are causing, or would cause, economic or environmental hardship to any streams or downstream users. An Equal Opportunity Employer