The Governor’s challenge —and yours
This may come as a surprise, but elsewhere in this country there are large metropolitan areas existing in relatively arid climates that are not witnessing an almost daily chiding from elected officials, columnists and community leaders about their squanderous use of water.
Here, though, we are experiencing said chiding and rightly so. We haven’t yet thoroughly learned the lessons of 2002, nor fully processed the warnings that our climate is shifting and some parts of this land are destined to be drier and warmer than we’re used to.
Gov. Mike Easley has asked the entire state to try to cut its water use in half — a laudable goal, but one that’s sure to flummox a culture based on the idea that the stuff is relatively limitless and that a lush, green lawn is a God-given right.
And while we’re quick to point to our community as environmentally progressive, the fact is the only thing we’ve been able to do better here in southern Orange County is plan a little more ahead and get a little more out in front of conservation than some of our neighbors.
But take this conserve water thing to heart and change our lifestyles? Well, what’s happened, pardon the analogy, is just a drop in the bucket compared to what we’ll need to do in both the short and long term.
Short term, it is time to just plain stop watering anything outdoors unless you’re doing it by hand and even then being sparing abut it. The spell of rains we’ve had this week has added only a few days of water to a supply that’s dwindled already down to barely enough to keep us all bathed and quenched for another 175 days.
With a La Nina predicted, and with that a greater likelihood of a drier than normal winter, that’s not a lot in the kitty. As this paper has preached ad nauseam, every drop saved now is a drop we’ll have next summer.
Long term, it’s time to take another hard look at the major water users and uses and the projected growth rate of the area and see what we’re getting into.
The university, for instance, draws a large amount into its chiller system and power plant. And with Carolina North on the immediate horizon — and with it another power-generating plant and a large array of buildings — there’s an additional challenge. New technologies and recycled water will help, but you have to wonder what the water supply would be if we had those few million more square feet of air-conditioned comfort to support.
Further still, is the buildout to the edge of our urban services boundary — a long-agreed-upon line beyond which utilities won’t pass — and from there the gradual increase of density in the urban cores. We may not be sprawling as much as other places, but we’re still adding people and demand at a pretty good clip.
OWASA has a long record of solid planning and a proactive approach to providing an adequate and safe water supply. But just as the utility and the governments in the areas it serves had to regroup and rethink after the last severe drought, there’s a need to reconsider the rules and the plans as a result of this one.
Part of this may be an acceleration of new conservation requirements and new technologies and considering, as one OWASA official put it in a recent meeting, joining forces with other jurisdictions to put “a straw in Jordan Lake.â€
But the biggest part of preventing a parched future is changing how we think about using water and then taking action to use less — a lot less.