AG 2007 06 18 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

stringent drinking water regulations while maintaining affordable rates. An emphzsis on regionalization was incorporated into the legislation crearing the 1998 Clean Watec Bonds, and nearly 90 percent of all bond-funded projects included aspects of regionalization o~ consolidation. ^ As intended, federal and state funders have used the report and database in plamiing for and making decisions on funding of joint projects and managing their own funding resources. "fhe computerized maps also proved vital in the response to the flooding that followed Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Complex and evolving picture 1'he 1998 initiative provided a detailed examination of the state of water and sewer infrastrudure at the time. Over the nea;t few years, substantial investments were made to improve and expand systems throughout the state. Yet there were indications that aitical problems ~vere fai from resolved. The 2000 Census showed that North Carolina's population had grown by 1 million people over the preceding decade, outpacing predidions. Most of the population growth occuered 'u~ urban oc uebanizing regions, stretching the ability of those communides to keep pace with the need for infrastructure investments. Inaeasing urbanization and resulting stormwater runoff also created significant watec quality concerns. Longheld assumpHons about the abundance of water resources underv~;ent serious challenge. A series of smdies documented dHRndling aquifers in the Coastal Plain, where most communities xely on groundwater supplies. As a result, the Environmental Manage~nent Commission imposed a Capacity Use Area designation on 15 counties, directing them to reduce groundwater withdrawals by up to 75 percent over 16 years. In the Piedmont, four consecutive years of drought showed the vulnerability of certain surface water supplies. In 2002, more than 90 systems were placed under mandatory water conservation, and many others agreed to voluntary conservation. Heavy rains in early 2003 relieved the immediate crisis, but in 2005, drought again threatened the watec supplies in the northem Piedmont. Comperition for the use of water resources became more apparent. Stakeholde~ groups formed in the Catawba and Yadkin dver basins to take part in the hydroelectric relicensing process of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Water usage and flow regulation aze part of the discussion. On the Roanoke and othec civets, environmental groups are urging the adoption of ecologically sustainable flow regulatio~~. Additlonal regulations are leading to increasing costs. New, more stringent regulations govem cvater and sewee treahnent, and new pollurion control rules require communities to better manage stonnwater runoff. At the same time, locaL govemments face uncertainries in the financial arena. Many benefited from extraordinaiily low interest tates over the last decade as they mmed increasingly to pzivate mazket lenders to finance capital improvements. Whether those low rates will continue is unclear. Furthermore, federal support for grants and loans - G--1 3