June 20, 2003
Mr. W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
Town of Chapel Hill
306 North Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Dear Cal:
We appreciate this opportunity to comment and clarify certain issues regarding the Town’s proposed new Water Conservation Ordinance.
Per this morning’s meeting with you and your staff, this letter provides our interpretation of OWASA’s Proposed Water Conservation Standards as we would expect them to be applied through a new Chapel Hill ordinance. Although I do not believe that these comments in any way alter the intent of our proposed standards, I am providing this letter to the OWASA Board of Directors for their review and possible comment before the Council discusses the ordinance at its meeting next week.
For reference purposes, the two documents this letter addresses are: (1) Your Town Manager’s memorandum to the Mayor and Town Council, dated June 23, 2003; and (2) OWASA’s Proposed Water Conservation Standards, dated February 27, 2003. Both of these items are included in the agenda package prepared for the June 23, 2003 Council meeting.
Maintenance of Athletic Fields and Right-of-Way Plantings
We are in agreement that Town-maintained athletic fields and right-of-way plantings would be subject to the same irrigation restrictions as other uses with respect to the total amount of water that could be applied each week (one inch per week year-round; one-half inch per week under Stage 1; and no spray irrigation allowed under Stage 2, Stage 3, or Emergency declarations).
We also agreed that existing language in Section I.B of the proposed OWASA Standards (see definitions of Even-Numbered Properties and Odd-Numbered Properties) provides sufficient flexibility for OWASA to develop special spray irrigation schedules for individual properties, provided that the total weekly application of water does not exceed the amounts specified elsewhere in the Standards.
We agreed that this interpretation adequately addresses your June 23, 2003 memo comments on the following sections of the OWASA Standards: III.A.1.a, III.A.1.e, III.A.3.a, V.B.1, V.B.2, V.C.1, V.C.2, and V.D.3.
In order to clarify that average daily water use limits under Stages 1, 2, and 3, are only intended for single-family residential customers, we suggested adding the phrase “single-family residential” before “irrigation-only accounts” in Sections V.B.1, V.C.1, and V.D.1. We agreed that this clarification would resolve your June 23, 2003 memo comments on the following sections of the OWASA Standards: V.B.1 and V.C.1 .
Public Health, Safety, and Welfare Issues
We agreed that additional wording would clarify the use of OWASA water for purposes of public health, safety, and general welfare. To this end, the following text could be inserted as a new Item h in Section III.A.3 and substituted for item b in Section III.B.2:
“For situations in which there is no practical alternative, OWASA-supplied potable water may be used for other special purposes, such as washing out garbage trucks, cleaning up hazardous or unsanitary materials, etc., or for other purposes necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare – provided that such water is used in the least quantity needed to accomplish the task.”
Similar wording could be inserted as a new paragraph at the end of Sections V.B, V.C, V.D:
“Notwithstanding the restrictions specified above, the protection of public health, safety, and welfare may, under special circumstances, require the use of limited amounts of OWASA-supplied potable water for such purposes as washing out garbage trucks, cleaning up hazardous or other unsanitary materials, etc. Such uses shall be permitted during declared Water Shortages or Emergencies, provided that other practical alternatives are not available and water is used in the least practical amount.”
We agreed that the removal of offensive graffiti from public view would be considered to be a legitimate use of OWASA water, and that these text changes would adequately address your June 23, 2003 memo comments on the following sections of the OWASA Standards: V.B.5, V.C.5, V.C.7, V.D.6, V.D.7, and V.E.1.
Enforcement and Interpretation of “Other Practical Alternatives”
We agreed to retain the phrase “when alternate methods are not available” or “where no other practical alternative exists” in Sections III.A.3.c, III.A.3.e, III.A.3.f, III.B.2.b, and III.B.2.c, with the understanding that the principle purpose of this wording is to reinforce the communication of a conservation ethic to the public, rather than to grant unreasonable discretion to OWASA staff in determining the availability or practicality of “alternate methods."
Hotel/Motel Bed Linens
We agreed that the Chapel Hill Town Council would be provided with two alternate choices:
We noted that the changing of bed linens in nursing homes, hospitals, or other health care facilities had not been considered when this issue was discussed before, and that we recognized that public health considerations could legitimately supercede conservation in certain situations.
We agreed that this approach would adequately address your June 23, 2003 memo comments on Section III.B.1.b of the OWASA Standards.
Consultation with Town and County Managers
We agreed that OWASA’s Executive Director would, in practice, make every effort to consult with the Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County Managers before asking their chief elected officials to proclaim a Water Supply Shortage or Emergency, but that it was not necessary to make this a requirement of the ordinance, and that the introductory paragraph to Section V of the OWASA Standards would remain as written by OWASA.
Other Comments
We were in agreement with your memo comments about Section V.D.9 (the likely effects of Stage 3 restrictions on swimming pool closings) and the general comment about seeking State permission to use highly treated OWASA wastewater for non-potable purposes.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or comments on these issues. I believe that this has been a most positive and productive process.
Sincerely,
Ed Kerwin
Executive Director
cc: Board of Directors