March 15, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            The town faces the possibility of not having enough water allocation from Raleigh to permit unrestricted residential growth for the next four years.

            Under the merger agreement for the water and sewer systems, Raleigh has allocated 4.91 million gallons a day, based on peak-day use, for the town through April 1 of 2010. Wake Forest’s peak-day use this past summer was 3.8 mgd, leaving only 1.1 mgd available.

            Planning Director Chip Russell said that would allow for 800 homes to be built during each of the next four years, but his recent spreadsheet showed 1,396 homes could be built this year and 1,460 homes in 2007, based on the full water allocation for each current subdivision.

            The members of the comprehensive planning committee suggested last month it might be necessary to cut the water allocation, based on building permits, for each subdivision by 40 percent.

            Commissioner David Camacho and others have asked how the town could be facing a water shortage less than a year after the merger agreement was signed. Projections in 2005 showed the 4.91 mgd allocation would be adequate through 2010.

            Thursday night, Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell called it “an apparent problem” that arose because “average (water) usage habits have changed and peak use habits have changed even more.

            “The newer users are using water at a different rate than our historic customers,” O’Donnell said. “A lot of these new homeowners are putting in irrigation systems” that use drinking water to keep lawns green during the summer.

            O’Donnell began the meeting with a PowerPoint presentation showing actual water usage – he has the usage figures for 13 years – and projected usage. Based on the 2005 actual usage numbers, Wake Forest water customers could use just over 4 mgd on a peak day this summer.

            “We wanted to show you that at the time of merger, our data was accurate,” Town Manager Mark Williams said. “What has changed is our usage patterns have changed dramatically the last few years.”

            The presentation concluded that the town must do one or more of the following:

• Reduce the amount of new residential development

• Acquire more capacity from Raleigh at a cost of $3.24 per gallon

• Modify the usage patterns of the new and newer residents

            The emphasis was on reducing the peak use. “It’s not necessarily the number of units that are going on the ground but what’s being used in those units,” Williams said.

            “We need to be looking at modifying usage patterns” and not necessarily jumping to reduce the growth rate or buying more water, Camacho said. He noted the average home price in town has risen and more of the owners want the extras, including lawn irrigation.

            Williams and O’Donnell strongly urged conservation as part of the town’s plan. “Look at what Cary does,” Williams said. Cary requires year-round water conservation. “They have convinced people they don’t have to drown your yard with water.”

            Suggestions included requiring a separate tap for irrigation system, limiting irrigation to once or twice a week, and encouraging the use of less thirsty grass such as Bermuda and centipede. Commissioner Frank Drake said owners of expensive houses probably would not agree to the last. “They want velvet and they’re going to get it.”

            O’Donnell said something about water conservation may be the topic when he and Williams meet with Raleigh officials this week.

            “Raleigh is facing the same problem,” Williams said. “They do not have an unlimited water supply.”

            And Raleigh – along with Wake Forest, Rolesville and Garner in its water system – is still under stage 2 water conservation measures because Falls Lake has not completely filled since last summer’s drought. The lake, which supplies water for 350,000 people in Wake County, dropped much lower last summer than it did during the more severe drought of 2002, O’Donnell said.

            “It tells you much more about the customers in Raleigh. Falls Lake is having a more difficult time keeping up with the growth,” O’Donnell said.

            The board agreed they want a water conservation ordinance, and Williams said he and O’Donnell will look at other towns and cities to choose the most effective measures. When he asked what not to include, Commissioner Stephen Barrington said he did not like the idea of a moratorium on irrigation systems. Drake said they might say they would not allow them now but might change in the future. “The more water we have, the more water they’ll use,” Commissioner Velma Boyd-Lawson said.

            Although Williams and O’Donnell will ask about the possibility of purchasing more water capacity, Williams said it would increase the cost and the time needed to pay off the merger. When the agreement was signed last year, the estimated cost was $19 million, which water rates would pay off in six to seven years. Purchasing an additional million or more gallons would mean the town’s older residents who use at or below the average amount of water would have to pay more.

            “It’s nothing but pure vanity,” Drake said, increasing the cost of merger for older residents “so new folks can have green grass.”

            The next subject was possibly reducing the rate of growth by reducing the number of building permits each subdivision is allowed a year, which has been set at 50 per year for several years. Some larger subdivisions have won additional allocation by agreeing to fund public benefit projects such as additional greenway dedication.

            During January and February, Russell said, 124 dwelling units were added to the town’s water customers. (There were 168 residential building permits issued during those two months, but 44 homes are in subdivisions that straddle the county line and were added to the Franklin County water system.)

            Both Williams and Russell emphasized that the 50-units-per-subdivision water allocation is not guaranteed. “We just said that if we have the allocation we’ll give it to you,” Russell said.

            “Is the goal here to allow the most rapid possible pace of development?” Drake asked

            “We’re trying not to exceed our capacity,” Russell answered. “If our peak gets out of control, we can’t even plan on what we have in the contract.”

            There is another capacity issue, O’Donnell said. If the town cuts peak use and continues to allow the maximum number of residential units, it will affect the capacity of the sewer plant on Smith Creek.

            O’Donnell said Raleigh is preparing the Smith Creek plant to be a reuse facility, treating waste water to a degree that it can be used for irrigation and some commercial uses. Most of the treated water will be used by one entity, he said without naming it, but there may be some left for Wake Forest residents to use for irrigation.

            Russell said he does not foresee the intense demand for development after 2010. He is also going through the list of current developments, asking what their real plans are for building this year. “Just about everybody will be doing less than the allocation.” Rather than the possible 1,396, Russell said it is likely there will be between 900 and 1,000 residential units added this year.

            “If we cut the number from 50 to 40, what effect is that going to have on a development?” Mayor Vivian Jones asked.

            Some will be affected more than others, Russell replied. “There’s nothing new that’s coming on line this year that’s going to be pulling permits.”

            There was a discussion about whether 800 new residential units might be too few or too many.

            Camacho noted that the town will have to cut its growth rate substantially after 2010 because the water allocation from Raleigh will only grow by 4 percent each year until 2020, when it drops to 3 percent annually. After 2030, Wake Forest’s growth, based on peak-day use, will be the same as Raleigh’s. Based on building permits, the town grew by nearly 16 percent in 2004 and by 12 percent in 2005.

            Camacho suggested limiting the number of building permits through the hottest summer months, looking at the situation in September and then perhaps being able to allow the full 50 permits if the peak is low enough.

            Jones asked if they want to reduce the water/building permit allocation now or wait to see the peak, and there was a consensus that board members want to make the reduction now.

            The commissioners appeared to agree they would honor current water allocations to the extent possible with available water.

            The measures, particularly the reduction in water allocation, will be discussed at next Tuesday night’s regular board meeting which begins at 7 p.m. in town hall.

            The comprehensive planning committee which consists of two commissioners, Camacho and Drake, and two planning board members, chairman Bob Hill and Kim Parker, will meet Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. at The Forks Cafeteria. One of their agenda items will be development of a floodplain management plan.