Big Water Users May Need Permits

A UNC-Duke study recommends steps the state should take to avoid water shortages in the future Wade Rawlins, Staff Writer Comment on this story North Carolina leaders should regulate large withdrawals of water from rivers and aquifers and develop models of how much water each river basin contains to avoid future shortages, water experts say. The state is one of only three in the Southeast that doesn’t require industries, large-scale agriculture and other big water-users to get a permit to make withdrawals, according to a study by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. Without a permit system, state water officials don’t have a clear idea of how much of the state’s total flow is currently tapped and how much water there is to accommodate growth.

“We use water the same way a government or home that has no budget spends money,” said Richard Whisnant, a UNC School of Government professor. “We have no water budget. We just hope everyone will be reasonable in how they use it. … It will be a big problem for us in the future.” The study, commissioned by the legislature and written by Whisnant and Bill Holman of Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, identifies steps lawmakers should take to better manage water resources and avoid shortages. Some steps may be debated during the next legislative session. Everyone who pays a water bill, from homeowners to large industries, could be affected.
Among the study’s recommendations:

• Set up a permit system for industries, utilities, municipalities and others that use 100,000 gallons of water per day or more. An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 users could be affected. Most industrial farms use 40,000 to 80,000 gallons per day and wouldn’t be affected.
• Develop planning models for each of the state’s 17 river basins to set water budgets and determine which are overextended in their water use or will be in the future. The state currently is developing basinwide models to assess water quality, but not quantity.
• Establish statewide goals for water conservation.
• Encourage water systems to charge rates sufficient to cover operating and maintenance costs. Whisnant and Holman estimate that several hundred small water systems are charging rates that are too low to cover their costs or maintain their systems. Poorly maintained systems can waste large amounts of water.

The study recommends that the Local Government Commission, a state agency that oversees local government finances, send letters to local water systems seeking an explanation for rates that don’t appear high enough to cover costs. The recommendation stops short of requiring higher rates.

Policy change sought

Whisnant and Holman said the recent drought offered a glimpse of the future if the state doesn’t update its policies to treat water as a limited and precious resource. In the Southeast, only North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama do not have a permitting system for water withdrawals. “In the last century, we had a lot of water and not too many people,” said Duke’s Holman. “We’re moving from an era of cheap and abundant water to an era of scarce and more valuable water. Water needs to be priced more appropriately.” Anita Watkins, legislative counsel for the N.C. League of Municipalities, which represents local governments, said the league supports developing comprehensive models of river basin water use and setting up a permitting system for big users. “Our folks see this as a way to make sure the supply of public water is protected and that you have a level playing field,” Watkins said. Preston Howard, a lobbyist for the Manufacturers and Chemical Industry Council of North Carolina, which represents large industries, said the group is reviewing the recommendations and hasn’t yet taken a position. Conflicts foreseen Demand for water will inevitably lead to more conflicts as the population grows, Whisnant said. The U.S. Census Bureau projects a state population of 12 million by 2030, an increase of more than 50 percent from the 2000 tally. As the population rises, some fast-growing areas such as the Triangle might want to supplement existing water supplies by drawing water from other sources, including Kerr Lake near the Virginia border. That could create clashes with communities that depend on those water supplies. Such cross-border conflicts already are cropping up. In a pending federal lawsuit, South Carolina is challenging a North Carolina decision to pipe 10 million gallons a day from the Catawba and Yadkin rivers for Concord and Kannapolis. South Carolina contends the decision leaves less water for towns and industries downstream.

Ahead of the curve

“Every time you turn around, you’re dealing with the fact we don’t really have a comprehensive set of water policies,” said Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat and co-chairman of the Environmental Review Commission. “We have to get ahead of the curve on this one or we’ll wind up in the kind of water wars they’ve had for generations out West.” The commission, a panel of legislators that makes recommendations to the full legislature on environmental issues, will examine the study’s findings. It could recommend that the legislature implement some of them when it returns in January. “I have a hunch there won’t be a single piece of legislation, but a bundle of different components,” Clodfelter said. “It’s such a comprehensive set of recommendations that it may be hard to get it all into a manageable form in a single bill.”

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