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In the
last year every residential developer in
Wake Forest has been strongly urged
though not officially required to
include a pledge not to use town water
for lawn irrigation in his plans before
they are approved by the town.
Last week word spread fast
that Raleigh, which owns and operates
the Wake Forest water and sewer systems,
may not allow irrigation using wells or
ponds but would insist on the use of
treated water from Falls Lake.
The question may be settled
easily and administratively. “We’ll be
talking with the City of Raleigh about
that this week,” Deputy Town Manager Roe
O’Donnell said.
“I’m thinking that if we
don’t have satisfaction at an
administrative level we may avail
ourselves of other channels of
communication which may be available,”
O’Donnell said.
The issue was raised when
the contractor for Majestic Oaks
subdivision on Rogers Road spoke with
Danielle Barber, a civil engineer who
reviews development plans for Wake
Forest, Rolesville and Garner. The
contractor apparently said the
subdivision would not be using Raleigh
water for irrigation and was told the
city might not allow that. He reported
that to Steve Faircloth, a partner in
the developing company.
“I called directly,”
Faircloth said, and spoke to Barber. She
said it might not be allowed “because
some homeowner might get angry and tap
into the irrigation line to bring water
into their home.”
O’Donnell said that if
Raleigh officials raise the question of
possible human harm or city liability –
some homeowner disgruntled by his water
bill switching to using the irrigation
line for use in the house – he would ask
how that differs from using reuse water.
The city is considering converting the
Smith Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
to produce treated water for irrigation
and industrial use rather than sending
the water to the Neuse River.
Faircloth called Wake Forest
Planning Director Chip Russell because
using something other than municipal
water for irrigation was one of the
conditions of the rezoning for Majestic
Oaks. Steve Faircloth, David Faircloth
(no relation) and David Williams Jr. are
the partners in Willfair, which is
developing Majestic Oaks.
Monday Barber said she was
“in discussion with my supervisors on
how to respond to that. There’s not been
a directive on how we respond to that.
We’ve not had that issue before.” Later
she said, “It might not even be an
issue.”
Barber said water
conservation is a goal for the city as
well. They have just hired a water
conservation technician who reports to
George Rogers, who headed the Wake
Forest water and sewer operations before
merger.
Barber ended by saying that
water from wells or ponds is still part
of the water in the Falls Lake
watershed. Falls Lake is the only water
source for Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale,
Wendell and Rolesville, and Wake Forest
uses mostly Falls Lake water
supplemented by some from the Smith
Creek reservoir.
Irrigation increased water use
Wake
Forest officials have been concerned
about water since the drought which
began in 2005 and extended through early
2006. (A cautionary note: The National
Weather Service and other agencies which
monitor rainfall and weather say North
Carolina east of the mountains is
abnormally dry and we should prepare for
drought conditions if the warm weather
and clear skies continue.)
In the merger agreement, the
town has a peak-day capacity use of 4.91
million gallons a day until the spring
of 2010, but in the summer of 2005 town
residents used 3.8 mgd on the peak day.
That was a large increase in daily use,
and town staff attributed it to the
greatly increased use of residential
irrigation systems.
During 2004 and 2005 the
town had issued about 1,000 building
permits each year.
The town staff determined
that the town would not exceed its water
allocation from Raleigh if it limited
new home construction to 800 a year. The
commissioners agreed and in April of
2006 reduced the number of building
permits per subdivision per year from 50
to 40.
On that same day, April 18,
the Willfair developers went to the
town’s Comprehensive Planning Committee
armed with a list of 100 ways to use
water wisely and a promise, among
others, not to tie lawn irrigation to
the town’s water system in their
subdivision.
Since then, every developer
who has gained the CPC’s approval – and
some who have not – has included a hefty
list of water conservation measures in
his plans.
Commissioner David Camacho,
who chairs the CPC, said there are only
certain things the town can do to reduce
water consumption and assure the treated
water is used wisely. “It’s not our
water system any more.
“We couldn’t put a higher
rate on irrigation meters. All we could
really do was to put conditions on it
[irrigation].
“We’re trying to be good
stewards of the water,” Camacho said. “I
think it’s safe to say a majority of the
board members feel that’s a prudent
thing to do.”
Near the close of Tuesday
night’s town board meeting, Camacho
referred to the flurry of rumors and
told his fellow commissioners the CPC
“has been trying to encourage developers
to incorporate water conservation
measures, and one of the main things is
not tying their irrigation system to
municipal water systems.” He said he had
heard, although it might be hearsay,
that Raleigh’s position is it is in the
water-selling business.
Mayor Vivian Jones said she
spoke with O’Donnell as soon as she
heard the talk. “I feel sure they’ll be
able to work that out.”
Sewer improvement needed
A second
part of the talk swirling in town
concerns a sewer line in the Smith Creek
basin where the major part of the town’s
growth is occurring.
O’Donnell said the town has
known for several years that the line
would need to be enlarged. “The City of
Raleigh says they are going to upgrade
that line.”
The problem should not
impact any developments, O’Donnell said.
The question he had was:
“How is it going to be paid for?” He is
not sure it is included in the list of
projects in the merger agreement. “I’m
not sure if it could be added to the
merger agreement.” |
