April 26, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            People do not have to sign up in advance in order to speak.

            Meanwhile, the city and the systems it owns have been under mandatory stage 2 water conservation since last November. (The complete restrictions for stage 2 were printed in last week’s issue.)

            As of Monday, the city had issued 385 citations for violating the conservation restrictions. “Our goal is to not issue any. We want our customers to comply with the restrictions,” Dale Crisp, director of the city’s public utilities, said Tuesday.

            The 385 number may include citations – $200 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second and possible service shutoff for repeat violations – in Wake Forest, Rolesville and Garner, but Crisp said they had not tracked them separately.

            A long list of water conservation and education measures was recommended by the city’s water conservation task force in its report to the city council on April 4.

            The complete recommendations are:

·                   Designate a permanent staff of city employees to administer water conservation programs and create a good water stewardship and water efficiency ethic within the public and business community;

·                   Dissolve the City’s Water Conservation Task Force and create a citizens’ Water Conservation and Stewardship Committee to serve as a sounding board and guidance group for the City Council and the City water conservation staff that is being proposed;

·                   Revise the city’s water restriction ordinances to include a year-round water conservation requirement for citizens, such as a mandatory three-day a week irrigation schedule and voluntary indoor water use restrictions. The task force also is proposing tougher Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 mandatory conservation rules;

·                   Implement new standards for triggering implementation of the City’s water use restrictions. For example, the city would initiate Stage 1 mandatory conservation rules when the water capacity at Falls Lake, Raleigh’s primary water source, is at 70 percent or less. Stage 2 rules would be necessary if capacity is 60 percent or lower and Stage 3 would start if capacity levels are at 50 percent or lower;

·                   Approve a voluntary certification program that encourages owners and operations of automatic irrigation systems to conserve year-round and not just during times of drought. The city created a similar program for car-wash businesses in December;

·                   Implement a water conservation rate structure that, among other things, allows the city’s Public Utilities Department fund vital conservation programs. Also, evaluate the impact of the new rate structure and make any necessary changes;

·                   Require and/or provide dual water system infrastructure – such as separate potable and reuse water lines – to all new development within designated areas of Raleigh and provide reuse water to these areas;

·                   Use satellite reuse water facilities to distribute reuse water to different service areas;

·                   Create and develop a comprehensive and effective water conservation public education campaign;

·                   Redesign utility bills to be more informative; and,

·                   Develop incentives, including rebate/subsidy programs and official recognition/certification programs, to encourage Raleigh residents, businesses and institutions to conserve water.

           Under the city’s current Stage 2 mandatory water conservation rules, lawn watering is allowed only twice weekly – Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for even-numbered addresses. Also, automobiles can only be washed at professional car washes.