Agenda - 02-17-2005-3a - Laserfiche WebLink

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I ~ ~ ~ BARRYJAGOBS, CHAIR ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MARGARET W. BROWN. V/CE CHA/R POST OFFICE BOX S 1 8 1 MOSES CAREY..IR. AGCEM. CORDON 200 SOUTH CAMERON STREET .~PHENK HALK/O]1S HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 November 12, 2004 Mayor Joe Phelps Town of Hillsborough P.O. Box 429 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Dear Mayor Phelps: For many years, local governments within Orange County have been concerned with protecting drinking water supplies for our residents. Located at the headwaters of three of the state's major river basins, Orange County has limited public water supply options, With no potential for tapping or impounding large rivers that flow through the county, the protection of our existing supplies becomes even more critical. We have worked in years past to protect our limited water supplies. Technical studies provided the basis for specific water quality protection measures that are in place in many of our 10 water supply watersheds, In 1981, Orange County became the first in the state to adapt watershed protection zoning. More recently, the towns of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, and Orange County adopted a Water and Sewer Management Planning and Boundary Agreement to delineate areas that will and not have public water and sewer in the future. Orange County, as the local government with planning jurisdiction over most of these watershed areas, has worked diligently to protect water quality both for our residents and for those in adjoining jurisdictions such as Durham and Graham/Mebane, Our philosophy has been to employ non-structural protection measures, working to stop water quality problems using natural water filtration as opposed to engineered methods, The land use development standards in place in many watersheds serve to protect and/or improve surface water quantity and quality. In this way, the county, and specifically its rural citizens, sacrifice to protect drinking water for those in urban areas, We have also taken direct steps to protect water quality through our Lands Legacy Program. Lands Legacy particularly emphasizes protection of watershed buffer lands, as well as conservation easements on farmland in water supply watersheds, Preserving stream buffers helps to provide important natural filtration for water quality purposes. Preserving farmland on farms with a good track record of conservation also benefits water quality, In the last three years, the County has acquired land in the critical area of the Upper Eno watershed for watershed protection, including a conservation easement at the confluence of the two forks of the Eno River and the 63-acre future McGowan Creek Preserve, WWW.GO.ORANGE.NC. US PROTEOT/NG ANO PRESERVING -PEOPLE. RESOURCES. QUALITY OF LIFE ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA - YOV COVNTl (919) 245.2130 ~ FAX (9 f9,J 644-0246