North Carolina Allocation Bill Progress

1. NC Water Allocation Study WATERCRUNCH GA/NC/SC AWWA-WEA Greenville, South Carolina September 23, 2010 Bill Holman Nicholas Institute Duke University

2. Study Authorized SL 2007-518 (HB 820), Section 1 Water Allocation Study Team School of Government @ UNC-CH Nicholas Institute @ Duke SL 2008-143, Drought Bill Report to 2009 General Assembly

3. Lake Michie, Durham County October 2007 Rocky Mount’s water reservoir September 2007 Falls Lake December 2007 Little River, Durham County October 2007

4. NC conflicts over water quantity Va Beach transfer from Roanoke Land use issues around proposed Little River reservoir Litigation over releases from Randleman Lake Public concern over new Boone intake Eno voluntary CUA Disagreements over Kerr water supply Central coastal plain CUA TVA lake level issues Concern about inflows and intakes around Falls Lake Cone of depression in lower Cape Fear Litigation over IBT to Concord/Kannapolis Concern about Atlanta’s water needs Intake and allocation disputes at Lake Jordan Fight over Alcoa dams on Yadkin

5. 2008 Report of the Water Allocation Study Team

6. Nine WAS Recommendations 1.Clearly state policy goals Model Regulated Riparian Code 2.Establish proactive, adaptive river basin water supply planning Process to develop, adopt & update models? Can we rely upon models to make decisions? Reliance on local water supply plan data? If not models, then what? Determination of low flows or ecological flows? Risk Management

7. Nine WAS Recommendations 3. Establish an administrative permit for large water withdrawals 100,000 gallons or more per day, including agriculture Consumptive & non-consumptive users Interim allocations for existing withdrawers Protection from new withdrawers Certainty ? Similar criteria to wastewater discharge permits 5 year cycle

8. Nine Recommendations 4. Conform existing laws - quality & quantity - surface water & groundwater 5. Simplify & integrate water information - river basin boundaries - water withdrawals and wastewater discharges - local water supply plans

9. Nine Recommendations 6. Address critical research and study needs Surface water and ground water Climate change and water 7. Ensure that water infrastructure is maintained Revenues > expenses LGC financial review/DENR environ review 8. Increase water efficiency 9. Create more water storage - centralized & decentralized - stormwater management

10. What’s NC’s current water allocation policy? What happened?

11. 2009 General Assembly SB 907/HB 1101, Water Resources Policy Act of 2009 A new permitting program !?*@! Water is a public trust resource?!*@? No action Legislative Study Committee on Water & Wastewater Infrastructure

12. Division of Water Resources Water Resource Planning & Modeling Science-based Local water supply plans Public process Framework for planning and reducing conflicts Collaborative

13. 2010 General Assembly SL 2010-143 (HB 1743), Improve River Basin Modeling, by Sen Clodfelter & others Directs DENR to model all major river basins Includes and defines ecological flows Requires EMC approval of models

15. SL 2010-149 (HB 1748), Conserve & Protect Agricultural Water Resources

16. SL 2010-150 (HB 1747), Water Supply System Capacity Planning (80% threshold)

17. SL 2010-151 (HB 1744), Modify Water Funding Priorities (common criteria for funders & financial review)www.ncleg.net

18. Status of Hydro Modeling Neuse River – “complete” Cape Fear River -- update Tar-Pamlico River – started 7/15/10 Roanoke River – VA/NC ongoing Broad River – starts 10/7/10 Div of Water Resources http://ncwater.org

19. Energy Models & Water Models Catawba/Wateree – Duke Energy FERC relicensing/SC v NC litigation Yadkin/Pee Dee – Progress Energy and Alcoa FERC relicensing/NC v Alcoa litigation Tennessee – Tennessee Valley Authority

20. Implementation SL 2010-143 Division of Water Resources Return flows and other sticky issues EMC approval process What & when? EMC Water Allocation Committee Scientific Advisory Board on ecological flows

21. WAS: 8½ to go; What’s next? Public Policy Goals to guide administrative and judicial decisions? Deep River hydro v Piedmont Triad Water Authority litigation Yadkin/Pee Dee River litigation Other disputes

22. Model; Then, what? Hydrologic models will inform state, local and private decision makers of potential shortages Who balances water budgets? Who implements regional water solutions?

23. Water Withdrawal Permits? Plan then permit? SC enacted SB 452 Only NC & AL do not require water withdrawal permits Interbasin transfer certificates required and difficult to obtain

24. Conform & Integrate? Water quality & quantity Wastewater returns Stormwater capture and reuse Surface water and groundwater Local Water Supply Plans Improve data Reduce reporting burden

25. Water Infrastructure? Local Government Commission (LGC) review of revenues and expenses Cost of service includes debt (but not depreciation) – pricing water -- SWIC Managing assets and documenting needs LGC/DENR coordination Water conservation rates --SWIC

26. Increase Water Efficiency? Division of Pollution Prevention & Environmental Assistance/DENR’s 2009 report – ignored Increased use of tiered water rates by water utilities Region 4 US EPA guidance

27. Increase Water Storage? Dr. David Moreau’s (UNC-CH) study on potential to increase storage at existing and new sites City of Raleigh’s Little River Reservoir project in Eastern Wake County Stormwater is a resource

28. What’s the same? Population projected to increase to 12,700,000 by 2030 Increase in demand for water and electric services Scarcity in the Triangle and Charlotte Metro regions by 2050 Who balances water budgets?

29. What’s New? Settle SC v NC Catawba/Wateree litigation – interstate agreement? SC SB 452, Surface Water Withdrawal Permitting VA-NC allocation of Kerr Lake (Roanoke River) – interstate agreement?

30. What’s New II? GA Water Stewardship Act of 2010 (SB 370) Duke-GA Tech study on energy efficiency Utilities shut down old coal plants Millions of gallons of “new” water Municipal and county sustainability efforts (first energy; then water?)

31. What’s New III? Shale gas in Deep River Valley Unregulated water withdrawals? State nutrient rules EPA’s “Coming Together for Clean Water” Stormwater and nutrients Climate & Hydrologic Change

32. 2011 General Assembly What should UNC-Duke WAS Team recommend to the General Assembly? What does AWWA-WEA recommend?

33. For the full report and to leave your comments, go to the Water Wiki: http://water.unc.edu Falls Lake June 2008