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• <br />rN <br />Conversely, a number of speakers, including several from the <br />Triangle Area, noted specific examples of the environmental and <br />economic benefits of interbasin transfers. We need look no <br />further than Hillsborough, which purchased millions of gallons of <br />OWASA water in order to maintain adequate streamflow in the Eno <br />River this past summer. And, it's unlikely that the southern <br />Orange water supply could have survived the drought of 1987 - <br />without the transfer of Lake Butner water to OWASA through the <br />City of Durham. <br />The proposed legislation is not an environmental bill, as some of <br />its supporters claim. It is a bill that could cause <br />environmental and economic harm by depriving streams, such as the <br />Eno, of much - needed supplementary flows, and unintentionally <br />requiring individual communities to develop marginal local supply <br />sources of their own, instead of collaborating with neighbors on <br />cooperative solutions that would be less costly to taxpayers, <br />rate payers, and the environment. <br />The proposed bill will provoke needless controversy and <br />competition among local entities, and inhibit good cooperative <br />water management in genuine areas of need. <br />No legislation on interbasin transfers should be introduced or <br />enacted until the North Carolina Department of Environment, <br />Health, and Natural Resources completes the State Water Supply <br />Plan mandated by HB 157 that was enacted in 1989. This effort <br />will systematically identify any existing or potential water use <br />conflicts throughout the state. <br />If, however, the General Assembly feels that it must enact <br />interbasin transfer legislation this session, then we suggest two <br />adjustments to clarify some of the inconsistencies within <br />existing statutes: <br />1. G.S. 153A -285 requires that a water and sewer authority, or <br />any partnership of more than one local government, obtain <br />approval from the Environmental Management Commission before <br />diverting water from one stream or river to another. The <br />specific criteria for approval are listed in G.S. 162A -7. <br />