Wendell News Outlet

Dear Friends,

Will we run out of drinking water? The Wake County Board of Commissioners recently heard a presentation from water experts that raised questions about the future of Wake County's water supply. Richard Whisnant, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Bill Holman, Duke University, presented findings from a study commissioned by the state legislature to look at water allocation issues and options in North Carolina. According to Whisnant, the Triangle region is in a race with Atlanta, GA to be the first large metropolitan area in the eastern United States that will run out of water. Unless we act now to establish a water budget and a process to ensure we remain within that budget, population growth and increasing demand for water and electric services could dry up our drinking water resources in the foreseeable future. In fact, demand in Eastern Wake County will exceed supply of water by 2040, according to Raleigh's Public Utilities water supply plan.

A unique set of geographic, geologic, demographic, and policy circumstances make the situation particularly dire for the Triangle:

* The Piedmont region has low water resilience - good average rainfall, but little water storage, high susceptibility to drought, and no good local supply options
* Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the US - more people means higher water use for drinking, irrigation, and energy
* North Carolina has no permitting system for large water withdrawals - we do not know how much of the state's water resources are currently tapped, how much water there is to accommodate growth, or how large water withdrawals impact downstream users

Recommendations suggested to ensure a long-term water supply for Wake County and the Triangle region, include:

* Establish a permitting system for large water withdrawals
* Establish proactive, adaptive, regional water supply planning
* Improve our supply by encouraging efficiency and using rainwater/stormwater as a resource

Legislation was introduced in the 2009 General Assembly that would act on many of the recommendations (SB 907 / HB 1101), but it was not taken up by the relevant committees. Unfortunately, there is little time to waste - coordinating, planning, and implementing the necessary steps to establish and balance our water budget will take time. We must ACT NOW to avoid our water demand exceeding our supply.

More information on the study can be found on UNC's Water Wiki.

If you are concerned about the future of Wake County's water supply, talk to your legislators and city and county representatives, and join WakeUP Wake County!