2008 report of the water allocation study of the NC Environmental Review Commission

              2008 Water Allocation Study Team Report 49
City is un 3. aware of its precarious water
supply and leaky pipes until it fails to
deliver on promises to new development.
These recommendations address this
problem in four ways. First, the use of
hydrologic models in every river basin means
that forecasting future water budgets will
no longer be left to each water system on its
own. This brings the best current scientific
models of water supply and demand to bear
on this important forecasting need. A well-designed
hydrologic model will show with
high levels of confidence whether and where
there are likely to be water supply/ demand
imbalances in the foreseeable future.
Second, where the models show problems
are likely to exist in the next twenty to
forty years, these recommendations propose
a regional approach to planning, using
the river basin planning models already
demonstrated in part in the Catawba and
Cape Fear basins. Water systems that are
predicted to have difficulty meeting their
expected commitments will be a shared
problem of the entire river basin. This allows
for the possibility of regional efforts to bring
future supply and demand into balance, just
like an agency or a family that must balance
a budget.
Third, local water supply planning and
other reporting requirements about water
will be consolidated, streamlined, and open
to more scrutiny. More resources will be
devoted to creation, review, and approval of
water supply plans, reducing the chance that
local governing boards do not understand
the degree to which their supply is not
capable of supporting the growth they want.
Fourth, the Local Government
Commission will be more involved in review
of revenues and expenditures of water
systems, with a particular focus on whether
operations, maintenance, repair, and
replacement of infrastructure are adequately
funded. The state’s goal for pricing water
should be to fully cover costs, including
depreciation of the infrastructure; it should
not be to come up with the lowest possible
cost for water.
4. Strong population and commercial growth
in the headwaters leaves a water system
no or few options for additional supply.
These recommendations address this
problem, the difficulty and expense of
water supply development in the state’s
high- growth regions, in two ways. First,
by setting out a path for water supply
reservoir development in places with
minimal environmental impacts and
maximum benefits as a water supply, the
recommendations would help reduce
the long lead times for developing water
supplies. Second, by setting up river
basin planning groups that could build
trust and working relationships between
water systems and water users, and giving
those groups the power and a means of
promoting shared water facilities with
enhanced access to state funding resources,
the recommendations could help solve
the difficult intergovernmental problems
posed by settlement patterns across North
Carolina.