Agenda - 10-30-2002 - 1 (AOG) - Laserfiche WebLink

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21 phosphorus, biologically. They both have extra filters, ultraviolet disinfectant, they're state of the art water treatment plants, and we built those before they were mandated by any State regulations. So when the Neuse Basin rules came into effect, we were already able to meet those. I think with the Jordan Lake nitrogen requirements coming down the pipe, we're going to be able to meet those as well with our South Durham facility. The County is working on upgrading their plan and it doesn't have that capability yet. But they're working on a planned expansion for that to meet those nitrogen requirements. As far as the city is concerned, we've tried to look ahead and provide that level of protection for Jordan Lake particularly and Falls Lake as well. In the case of Jordan, hoping that we would someday be drinking that same water we discharge to. We have a particular interest in protecting that water I think that no one else probably will have. Because I don't believe anybody else will be in the unique situation of discharging into and drinking out of the same reservoir. Dr. Moreau: Would you send me a copy of that protection program for Jordan? I have not seen it recently. I'd be interested in that. One point I do want to make is that Ed Holland, you were Triangle J when that started. Ed was sort of a key staff person in that. I think there's some really good things that came out of that process for the region as well as for North Carolina. A lot of people have put a lot of effort into that. And I don't think sometimes some of the newer folks coming in know that history and don't realize where we've come from. We've come a long way. That's not to say we don't still need to do more. But we've done a lot. We just need to recognize that we've done that. It would be a lot worse if we hadn't done that too. Dan Okun: We need to prepare and learn what to do by looking at what they are doing in the western part of the United States. Growth is making the demands increase which we will have to pay for. We need to consider what is happening around the country. We could manage or reclaim our water for other uses. Water reclamation requires early planning. Make reclamation very economical. It can be done for small and large communities alike. We have state regulations for non-portable uses. Dr. Moreau: One of the questions is how do we initiate that process of water reuse. We've had a couple of aborted efforts, Motorola, I guess, was negotiating with Durham. Wasn't there a study on Meadowmont? Dan Okun: The best example is what Cary has done with a golf course using reclaimed water. It can be done if there is some initiative on the part of the communities and the engineers. We need to examine our options and get it in the early planning stages. Don Cox: One of the big problems is that there is no demand for reclaimed water. One way to create the demand is through the local subdivision ordinances. It would require local communities to say this is what you have to do to develop this subdivision. Dan Okun: Whenever there is a water shortage, people will use reclaimed water to water their shrubs and lawns. This is beginning to be done just because people must conserve water. Bill Strom: I wasn't on the Council in Chapel Hill when.it was discussed at Meadowmont, but it's not going to happen by the private sector necessarily. There's a legislative approach that's going to have to be taken in the communities by elected officials that think this is important. For example, Dr Moreau you mentioned Meadowmont, and a dual system was proposed and it was negotiated away because the developer took it away as other requests were made and the approval was negotiated out. It really does require some legislative will to change the paradigm. Chair Jacobs: As I recall, even the University was approached about it's golf course and decided to just suck water out of Morgan Creek rather than be part of doing something a little more creative. My question had to do with inter basin transfer. Could you just outline why we don't like inter basin transfer? My .understanding is the State sets a threshold of two million gallons per day where you raise the flag of concern. If it's something that we discourage, why talk about such a large amount? If it's less we shouldn't worry about it, or it's not worth regulating? How do we get to that? Dr. Moreau: Well, you have to agree on some sort of diminimus level. You're not going to regulate every little garden hose that crosses a ridgeline. And frankly, I don't know why two million gallons a day. It may have been just looking at what already existed in making that judgement. The real argument against inter basin transfer is one of water rights. There may have been others, but I remember Senator Roby Nash. When you start talking about running that water from Siler City to Zebulon, there was this proposal in 1957 to run water from the Yadkin River to Burlington—the so-called seven cities proposal. Senator Nash spent his lifetime in the legislature making darn sure that was not going to happen. The legislation that was written in some of the very cumbersome stuff that OWASA had to deal with in getting the permit for Cane Creek came out of that legislation that was very restricted on who could do that. The case on Jordan Lake was very political dealing with Senator Rand and the perception that the Cape Fear River in Fayetteville was going to