After a somewhat testy discussion during Tuesday night’s work session, the Wake Forest commissioners split three to two but let stand the ban on connecting new in-ground irrigation systems to the Raleigh water system.
The same commissioners voted unanimously in May of 2008 to institute the ban, a continuation of its strong water conservation measures.
Since then, as the drought conditions have been succeeded by sufficient rainfall, first Commissioner Peter Thibodeau and more recently Commissioner Chris Kaeberlein have urged that the ban be rescinded.
Thibodeau’s grounds for doing away with the ban are that 1) the town is using a different standard for water use than every other client of the service provider (the clients are Rolesville, Garner, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon and the service provider is the City of Raleigh), 2) “It conveys to a number of people that the town doesn’t trust our service provider,” that we think we need to manage our water better, and 3) “It also comes off as a bit spiteful, a punishment for those people who want to put in those systems.”
Thibodeau also said the town would gain by selling more water, thereby cutting the merger debt owed to Raleigh.
Kaeberlein said the ban sends a mixed message. If you were one of the first people to help the town grow to 25,000, you can have an irrigation system using city water. The ban affects “only people who are new to town.”
Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell had begun the discussion by saying, in short, that allowing new customers to tap into Raleigh’s water system would not provide any benefit to the town and “it would affect our pro forma (the accounting basis for the merger agreement) negatively.”
Wake Forest is paying off the merger debt through the availability fees for water and sewer paid by new construction and the difference between the town’s water and sewer usage fees and Raleigh’s. Raleigh has just raised its water rates by 9 percent and the town raised both water and sewer rates; now Wake Forest’s sewer rate remain significantly higher than Raleigh’s and the town’s water rate is slightly higher than Raleigh’s, meaning the use of both water and sewer contribute to the payback.
In the past, irrigation systems in town were connected to the main household meter, meaning that homeowners are charged for both water and sewer use whether they use the water for cooking, bathing or irrigating. For those customers, irrigation does help the town pay off the merger debt quicker because of the sewer charge.
Now Raleigh requires all new irrigation customers have a separate meter for that use and does not tie it to sewer use. Raleigh also will raise the usage rate for irrigation water in November.
Overall, O’Donnell said, “we would lose eleven cents per cubic foot of water” and after the November increase would lose even more.
“When you say we’ll lose money, it would take us longer to pay off the debt,” Thibodeau asked.
“”We’re not gaining anything toward lowering the debt,” Town Manager Mark Williams said.
The discussion turned toward population growth, Falls Lake, Raleigh’s permanent water conservation rules and the change that had brought in residential water use.
Kaeberlein wondered about the difference in water use between an irrigation system and watering with a hose, and O’Donnell said they found the irrigation customers use an average of 500 gallons of water on peak days than non-irrigation customers. He had compared 300 customers with irrigation and 300 without, all 600 in new subdivision homes of three and four bedrooms.
“I think it has to do with protecting resources that are not unlimited,” Commissioner Margaret Stinnett said in defending the ban. “I think we have made a bold move, saying we want to conserve the water available.”
Commissioner Frank Drake said water is a “common resource” and, though others have not restricted irrigation use – homeowners and business owners can drill a well or another water source – “I don’t think it’s in our best interest to join the herd. I think we are a model for the future.”
“I have heard from many people in town and outside of our town who are amazed that we had the foresight to do something like this,” Mayor Vivian Jones said. She called the ban “extraordinary. I think we are way ahead of the pack in this action, and I’m very proud of our town.”