Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop For You

[Brent]

TOWN OF CARY STEPS UP VIGILANCE AS WATER USAGE SPIKES TO ALL-TIME HIGH
Water usage topped 26 million gallons on Tuesday

CARY, NC – With the current hot, dry weather leading water customers to all-time water demand records, the Town of Cary is stepping up enforcement of the Town’s year-round, alternate day outdoor watering (ADW) and Water Waste laws, which went into effect in May 2000. On May 26, 2007, total usage jumped dramatically when customers took 25.2 million gallons of water from the Cary-Apex system; then on Tuesday, the usage hit a record high of 27 million gallons per day.

Citizens can expect to see an increased number of Town staff out and about, especially at night, in the early morning, and on weekends looking for opportunities to help irrigators abide by the watering rules. The ADW rules allow customers to use automatic irrigation systems and sprinklers three specified days per week: even numbered addresses can water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Odd numbered addressees can water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. No automated watering is allowed on Mondays, but hand-watering is allowed any day of the week.

Because of their water supply contracts with Cary, citizens in Morrisville as well as the Wake County portion of the Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport must abide by the mandatory alternate day and water waste rules, although RDU does have discretion over using the water they draw from their private wells.

Given the importance of preserving finite resources, Cary’s mandatory watering program comes with tough penalties – for first offenders, two warnings are issued. Citations will follow for subsequent violations, carrying civil penalties of $100 for the first citation, $250 for the second, $500 for the third, and $1,000 for each subsequent citation. In addition to or in lieu of civil penalties, violation of the alternate day watering law is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable for each violation by a fine of up to $500 and/or incarceration for up to 30 days. And if all else fails, the Town Manager has the authority to suspend a customer’s water service—in whole or in part—if he determines that an imminent water emergency exists and/or that the customer has failed to comply with the alternate day watering program on numerous occasions.

"While we can and will fine violators if left with no other option, our goal is compliance by educating citizens on the importance of following the Town’s watering ordinances,” said Interim Public Works and Utilities Director Mike Bajorek.

In an effort to help keep water usage from continuing to go up, the Town will begin using and training current staff to be vigilant about improper water usage and educate citizens on the ordinances as part of an increased field presence. Town of Cary employees will work in the evening hours and on weekends throughout Town to help promote Cary’s ADW and Water Waste ordinances in an effort to help decrease demand.

Earlier this month, Cary kicked off its annual Beat the Peak campaign, “Hesitate Before you Irrigate,” which reminds citizens of the Town’s three, year-round water ordinances aimed at decreasing demand by conserving water, including: Alternate Day Watering, Water Waste and Rain Sensor ordinances. As part of the Water Waste Ordinance, residents are not permitted to irrigate on impervious surfaces such as streets and driveways and water their landscape to the degree that it causes runoff down curbs and into stormdrains. Lastly, the Rain Sensor Ordinance requires a rain sensor set at ¼ inch on all automatic irrigation systems.

Also part of the Beat the Peak campaign, the Town will distribute more than 40,000 postcards to Cary and Morrisville utility customers with tips on how to reduce water use and a reminder of all three water ordinances. Also, nearly 10,000 conservation slide guides with tips on how to conserve water will be distributed throughout Cary and Morrisville in June. Water ordinance reminders have begun running on local radio stations and citizens can also watch special segments on water conservation on Cary TV 11 in June. These publicity efforts are in addition to newspaper reminders that the Town is running in May and June.

Citizens can monitor the daily water demand online as well as access other important information by visiting the Water Conservation section at http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/waterconservation/overview.htm.

###

PRIMARY CONTACTS: Marie Cefalo, Water Conservation Team Leader, (919) 469-4387
Mike Bajorek, Interim Public Works and Utilities Director, (919) 469-4093
April R. Little, Deputy Public Information Officer, (919) 481-5091
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951


The problem is not that we supply water to Morrisville, part of RTP and the airport, or that we're growing by leaps and bounds (as the CP home page notes, too fast for the infrastructure to keep up), but rather that citizens are breaking the water rules. :roll:

[Rich]

The problem is not that we supply water to Morrisville, part of RTP and the airport, or that we're growing by leaps and bounds (as the CP home page notes, too fast for the infrastructure to keep up), but rather that citizens are breaking the water rules. :roll:Morrisville, RTP, RDU and growth all provide extra 'revenue', to the town. Why not have the citizens do their part too? :roll:

[Cathy]

The Town staff really expects everyone to believe that the squeeze on the water supply has NOTHING TO DO with the way that they are adding more and more households to the system??

Jeeezzzz....

Okay, so are they admitting that the policy has nothing to do with there being a limited supply of potable water and everything to do with a desire to impose restrictions on people because they can?

[dhyatt]

It's time once more to fire up the Cary Politics Translation Engine for the Politically Naive....
<hr>
TOWN OF CARY STEPS UP VIGILANCE AS WATER USAGE SPIKES TO ALL-TIME HIGH
Water usage topped 26 million gallons on Tuesday

TOWN OF CARY THREATENS TO CUT OFF WATER OF EXISTING RESIDENTS TO HELP FUEL ADDITIONAL GROWTH


CARY, NC – With the current hot, dry weather leading water customers to all-time water demand records, the Town of Cary is stepping up enforcement of the Town’s year-round, alternate day outdoor watering (ADW) and Water Waste laws, which went into effect in May 2000. On May 26, 2007, total usage jumped dramatically when customers took 25.2 million gallons of water from the Cary-Apex system; then on Tuesday, the usage hit a record high of 27 million gallons per day.

The Town of Cary - who raised water rates two years ago because citizens didn't use enough of it - is now planning on fining and otherwise bullying residents who decide they'd rather not see their grass die. Town spokesperson claims brown grass and beige buildings match nicely and reminds residents that record water usage and record population ARE NOT related.

Citizens can expect to see an increased number of Town staff out and about, especially at night, in the early morning, and on weekends looking for opportunities to help irrigators abide by the watering rules. The ADW rules allow customers to use automatic irrigation systems and sprinklers three specified days per week: even numbered addresses can water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Odd numbered addressees can water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. No automated watering is allowed on Mondays, but hand-watering is allowed any day of the week.

Town staff will be out in force looking for violators - especially those they can make an example of. Of course, you're welcome to stand out in the heat and hold the hose yourself for as long as you can stand it.

Because of their water supply contracts with Cary, citizens in Morrisville as well as the Wake County portion of the Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport must abide by the mandatory alternate day and water waste rules, although RDU does have discretion over using the water they draw from their private wells.

We own the water - at least all the surface water - and you can't use it unless we say so. If you happen to own a well, well.... we're working on how to own those too. Stay tuned.

Given the importance of preserving finite resources, Cary’s mandatory watering program comes with tough penalties – for first offenders, two warnings are issued. Citations will follow for subsequent violations, carrying civil penalties of $100 for the first citation, $250 for the second, $500 for the third, and $1,000 for each subsequent citation. In addition to or in lieu of civil penalties, violation of the alternate day watering law is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable for each violation by a fine of up to $500 and/or incarceration for up to 30 days. And if all else fails, the Town Manager has the authority to suspend a customer’s water service—in whole or in part—if he determines that an imminent water emergency exists and/or that the customer has failed to comply with the alternate day watering program on numerous occasions.

We'd like to get the 3 strike rule in place so residents can be deported to Fuquay (or Varina) after 3 violations. We could then take your house and put up 3 where there used to be only one. This will help us all keep our jobs.

"While we can and will fine violators if left with no other option, our goal is compliance by educating citizens on the importance of following the Town’s watering ordinances,” said Interim Public Works and Utilities Director Mike Bajorek.

Our hope is that as Cary becomes ever more overbearing with more and more insidious rules an regulations, that residents will acclimate and simply learn to sit down, shut up, and by all means quit asking for public records.

In an effort to help keep water usage from continuing to go up, the Town will begin using and training current staff to be vigilant about improper water usage and educate citizens on the ordinances as part of an increased field presence. Town of Cary employees will work in the evening hours and on weekends throughout Town to help promote Cary’s ADW and Water Waste ordinances in an effort to help decrease demand.


Town staff will begin learning alternate uses for a rubber hose. Some of our staff is looking forward to it.

Earlier this month, Cary kicked off its annual Beat the Peak campaign, “Hesitate Before you Irrigate,” which reminds citizens of the Town’s three, year-round water ordinances aimed at decreasing demand by conserving water, including: Alternate Day Watering, Water Waste and Rain Sensor ordinances. As part of the Water Waste Ordinance, residents are not permitted to irrigate on impervious surfaces such as streets and driveways and water their landscape to the degree that it causes runoff down curbs and into stormdrains. Lastly, the Rain Sensor Ordinance requires a rain sensor set at ¼ inch on all automatic irrigation systems.

Also part of the Beat the Peak campaign, the Town will distribute more than 40,000 postcards to Cary and Morrisville utility customers with tips on how to reduce water use and a reminder of all three water ordinances. Also, nearly 10,000 conservation slide guides with tips on how to conserve water will be distributed throughout Cary and Morrisville in June. Water ordinance reminders have begun running on local radio stations and citizens can also watch special segments on water conservation on Cary TV 11 in June. These publicity efforts are in addition to newspaper reminders that the Town is running in May and June.

As part of Cary's continuing Bash the Public campaign, "Ask Before you Flush,", which reminds citizens how selfish they are for flushing their own toilets instead of saving the water for another 50,000 people, the Town of Cary will spend extra tax dollars to send out postcards to every active and new voter reminding them how great Cary is and to vote for the incumbents. In addition to overtime pay, Town of Cary staff will receive a bonus for every CP member caught leaking on the wrong day.

Citizens can monitor the daily water demand online as well as access other important information by visiting the Water Conservation section at http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/waterconservation/overview.htm.

Citizens can check to see exactly how bad they are - and more importantly, how bad their neighbors are - by visiting the "Conserve Water and Pay More" section of the Town's website.

###

PRIMARY CONTACTS: Marie Cefalo, Water Conservation Team Leader, (919) 469-4387
Mike Bajorek, Interim Public Works and Utilities Director, (919) 469-4093
April R. Little, Deputy Public Information Officer, (919) 481-5091
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951

Don't call us, we'll call you.

[Brent]

The Town staff really expects everyone to believe that the squeeze on the water supply has NOTHING TO DO with the way that they are adding more and more households to the system??

You bet they do. Their spin fools some of the people some of the time. They're not about to stop.


Okay, so are they admitting that the policy has nothing to do with there being a limited supply of potable water and everything to do with a desire to impose restrictions on people because they can?

Again, this approach seems to work in other areas (pole signs, condemnation, sewage plant siting, forced annexation, etc., etc.), so they're not about to stop when it comes to water supply. At least not until some adult supervision shows up.

Hyatt, thanks for the useful CP translation. It makes Susan's spin less dizzying.

[Karen]

Thank god I was forced by the Town to hook up my irrigation system to the reclaimed water system for a mere $800.00. :twisted: With all the money I'm saving with RW I can water my lawn anytime I want. :roll:

-Karen

edited to add that I don't mind the concept of RW btw. I just wasn't happy with the amount of out of pocket money it took me to hook up to it.

[NewHillBilly]

Cary Imposes Water Restrictions, Tries to Educate Residents
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1457659/

If this is a plan to start a separate school district and break free of WCPSS I am all for it!

[kellyc]

I actually kind of like the Water Rules, only because of the conservation it encourages. I have lived in North Carolina all my life minus four years for college. I have seen droughts come and go. Some minor, some severe. When they are severe, you would be amazed(or maybe not) at the carelessness with which people wasted water. There would be images on the TV of water resources close to bone dry, yet people still water yards, washing cars and filling swim pools. Why the wouldn't wash the car on the yard at least is beyond me. But people still do it. I think if you instill the concept of conservation now then its not as much of a transition for people when a drought gets worse. Unless we have a sudden change in our weather pattern our situation will get worse and it will impact us all. (We really need a tropical storm to come thru and just sit on top of us for a day or two). Farmers have already be hit bad enough with the late frost, add a massive drought to it and it will just get worse. Cary's water rules won't help the farmers, but it will help if our water supplies continue to dwindle. Sorry but this is one of the rules that Cary has gotten right.

[Karen]

I don't mind the water rules at all. Never had a problem with them even before our neighborhood got reclaimed water. And the reclaimed water is fine with me. I just minded paying 800 bucks to hook up to the RW system. :wink: My back flow was quite a ways away from the hookup site on my property so it cost a bit to tap into it. My neighbors on the other hand, only paid around $75 because their backflow was a heck of a lot closer to their hookup site.

-Karen

[kellyc]

I don't mind the water rules at all. Never had a problem with them even before our neighborhood got reclaimed water. And the reclaimed water is fine with me. I just minded paying 800 bucks to hook up to the RW system. :wink: My back flow was quite a ways away from the hookup site on my property so it cost a bit to tap into it. My neighbors on the other hand, only paid around $75 because their backflow was a heck of a lot closer to their hookup site.

-Karen

800 tis a bit of money. I probably would have minded that too. Do you get a break on the cost of the water though? Is it 800 dollars that after so many years you will come out ahead?

[Karen]

I don't mind the water rules at all. Never had a problem with them even before our neighborhood got reclaimed water. And the reclaimed water is fine with me. I just minded paying 800 bucks to hook up to the RW system. :wink: My back flow was quite a ways away from the hookup site on my property so it cost a bit to tap into it. My neighbors on the other hand, only paid around $75 because their backflow was a heck of a lot closer to their hookup site.

-Karen

800 tis a bit of money. I probably would have minded that too. Do you get a break on the cost of the water though? Is it 800 dollars that after so many years you will come out ahead?

The cost of hook up was all over the place depending on the company you went with and how far away the back flow was to the hookup site. We waited until the last minute to hook ours up, and went with a company had done several in our neighborhood by that time. Some companies had no clue what to do with the RW hookups as it was a new thing for them.

Yep, we do get a break on the cost of the water so I can't complain about that, and we don't have restrictions. The RW cost is $3.28 per 1,000 gallons which is the same rate as Tier 1 for potable water. By having RW, it keeps our family in Tier 1 throughout the year for potable water, whereas if we didn't have reclaimed water, our water usage when using our irrigation system would push us into Tier 2, which is $3.75 per 1,000 gallons. So we save $0.47 per 1,000 gallons from about mid May thru mid Sept. depending on rain, etc. We only run our system in the mornings and not necessarily daily, so it'll still take awhile to recoup our money. I might just go through my bills from last year and see how much I saved...

-Karen

[dhyatt]

[snip]

Sorry but this is one of the rules that Cary has gotten right.

kellyc,
No need to be sorry. I don't have a problem with the rules per se. I simply took offense to the threatening tone of the PSA. My initial reaction was one of defiance, as in "I dare you to cut off my water because I used it on the wrong day." I'm probably in the minority here but I don't need to be "reminded" that staff is undergoing special enforcement training and will be out nights and weekends looking for violators.

[Brent]

Kelly,

The rules themselves are not the problem. Encouraging conservation is admirable.

In addition to agreeing with Hyatt about the heavy-handed tone of the town's e-mail (an all-too-frequent occurrence), my main point is that the water shortages can be attributed to the uncontrolled growth over the past few years. Weather by itself is not to blame. Good planning would include margins for dry weather.

We do not have good planning. Instead, we have "The golden rule" -- the developers have the gold, and they rule.

[kellyc]

Kelly,

The rules themselves are not the problem. Encouraging conservation is admirable.

In addition to agreeing with Hyatt about the heavy-handed tone of the town's e-mail (an all-too-frequent occurrence), my main point is that the water shortages can be attributed to the uncontrolled growth over the past few years. Weather by itself is not to blame. Good planning would include margins for dry weather.

We do not have good planning. Instead, we have "The golden rule" -- the developers have the gold, and they rule.

I disagree with you on the planning. We had times in Greensboro, when growth was not an issue. In fact there was a desperate need for growth, and yet during dry time water restrictions came out. Its just one of those things that happens. I think having a constant watering plan is good planning. We have been thru some decent droughts since we implemented our plan, and we in Cary really didnt have to change a whole lot. Raleigh and Durham did. Car washes were shut down, and they flat out banned car washing at home and even lawn watering. Even small towns which have either zero or shrinking growth will begin to implement water controls in the short term if the weather situation doesnt change.

[kellyc]

[snip]

Sorry but this is one of the rules that Cary has gotten right.

kellyc,
No need to be sorry. I don't have a problem with the rules per se. I simply took offense to the threatening tone of the PSA. My initial reaction was one of defiance, as in "I dare you to cut off my water because I used it on the wrong day." I'm probably in the minority here but I don't need to be "reminded" that staff is undergoing special enforcement training and will be out nights and weekends looking for violators.

Well part of the problem is education. I know how to cut my grass and trim everything. But I don't know when to put what out in the yard(lime, fertilizer). So I have a lawn service. My lawn service recommends I water my yard 2 inches a week.(That is a lot of water). Thats what they tell me everytime they come out. Fortunately I have a Dad to bounce it off. He's of the mind you never really water. Nature is what it is, and if some of the grass dies because of water issues it can always be replanted. I am sure there is a happy medium in there somewhere. However if they are telling me that, they are telling everyone that. So people may very well be putting way too much water on their yard and wasting it. And with the world as it is today, there probably are a lot of people who simply dont know about the alternate watering, either by choice or simple ignorance.

I agree the tone of the letter was a little intense, and I probably would have worded it differently. But there are lots of things I would do differently. A reminder as opposed to a "special enforcement training" would have probably been more appropriate. Another way to handle it would be simply something on the towns website, which shows exsisting water supply and people could watch it dwindle for themselves. Or kind of a real time count down showing how many days water supply we have.

[Brent]

Another way to handle it would be simply something on the towns website, which shows exsisting water supply and people could watch it dwindle for themselves. Or kind of a real time count down showing how many days water supply we have.

http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/webdemand.htm

[Brent]

Kelly,

The rules themselves are not the problem. Encouraging conservation is admirable.

In addition to agreeing with Hyatt about the heavy-handed tone of the town's e-mail (an all-too-frequent occurrence), my main point is that the water shortages can be attributed to the uncontrolled growth over the past few years. Weather by itself is not to blame. Good planning would include margins for dry weather.

We do not have good planning. Instead, we have "The golden rule" -- the developers have the gold, and they rule.

I disagree with you on the planning. We had times in Greensboro, when growth was not an issue. In fact there was a desperate need for growth, and yet during dry time water restrictions came out. Its just one of those things that happens. I think having a constant watering plan is good planning. We have been thru some decent droughts since we implemented our plan, and we in Cary really didnt have to change a whole lot. Raleigh and Durham did. Car washes were shut down, and they flat out banned car washing at home and even lawn watering. Even small towns which have either zero or shrinking growth will begin to implement water controls in the short term if the weather situation doesnt change.

Look at use for this time of year for the past several years, some of which have also experience drought.

Overall demand/use is up several million gallons per day, a rough estimate of around 20% on average. Water demand, in no surprise, appears to correlate reasonably well with population growth.

Dry weather or not, when you grow faster than your infrastructure will support, the problems (traffic jams, water shortages, school capacity, etc.) appear sooner and are more severe.

The increased demand on the water supply caused by skyrocketing growth with no increase in supply has caused water shortages to appear sooner and be more severe.

[kellyc]

Another way to handle it would be simply something on the towns website, which shows exsisting water supply and people could watch it dwindle for themselves. Or kind of a real time count down showing how many days water supply we have.

http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/webdemand.htm

Its kind of a difficult chart to read. It shows how much we have used but doesnt show what the remaining supply is. It shows that we can handle a maximum of 40m gallons a day but not for how long we could handle that amount. The report did show that for 2000 and 2001.

[kellyc]

Look at use for this time of year for the past several years, some of which have also experience drought.

Overall demand/use is up several million gallons per day, a rough estimate of around 20% on average. Water demand, in no surprise, appears to correlate reasonably well with population growth.

Dry weather or not, when you grow faster than your infrastructure will support, the problems (traffic jams, water shortages, school capacity, etc.) appear sooner and are more severe.

The increased demand on the water supply caused by skyrocketing growth with no increase in supply has caused water shortages to appear sooner and be more severe.

Im not sure the increased demand is strictly based on growth. Certainly it has something to do with it. But then so would the fact that we provide water to Morrisville. In addition, the increase in demand this year could just as easily have been caused by a lack of travelling this Memorial Weekend because of gas prices. I think its probably a combination of all sorts of things. Growth, weather, lack of travelling, and people just being careless. I realize you want to point out growth as the enemy of everything. It certainly is not the friend of everything, and I am with you on concerns that it needs to slow down, but its not the enemy and the cause of all things evil. Perhaps this is one of those items that you and I will simply have to agree to disagree. Now let me go get a drink of water. Bottled of course.

[Cathy]

Thank you Don for the great translation!!

It's almost painful to laugh at something that is so close to the truth, but laugh I did.

It is surely NOT the idea of conservation of resources that I have a problem with, and I do acknowledge the fact that there will always be people who refuse to do the responsible thing unless they are threatened, but how much freedom are we willing to lose in order to keep the "other people" in line?? (It's always the "other people" ya know _ "WE" need to tell them how to behave, _bless their hearts)

I have very little of my yard planted as lawn.
I cut it with a non motorized reel mower.
I don't water my shrubbery unless it is absolutely wilted and then I spot water it.
I don't water my lawn. Rarely fertilize it.
I don't use the automatic irrigation system that a previous owner installed.

I use a low water use front loader washing machine and never run my dishwasher unless it is carefully loaded full.

I infrequently wash my car (you may have noticed) in my yard where it will water the vegetation.

I use a carefully maintained onsite septic system that returns the organically clarified wastewater that I use back into the underground aquifer that replenishes the community well that my household draws water from.
My drainspouts irrigate my backyard.
I compost my household food scraps and use that to improve the soil in my garden so the plants need less water.

If there is anything else I can do to be responsible with natural resources, I'm open to hearing about it.

So do "we" tolerate the big stick of government over our collective heads for the goal of taming the irresponsible ones amoung us? And don our rose colored glasses so we can delude ourselves about the benevolence of government?

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." abolitionist Frederick Douglass

[Brent]

Im not sure the increased demand is strictly based on growth. Certainly it has something to do with it. But then so would the fact that we provide water to Morrisville. In addition, the increase in demand this year could just as easily have been caused by a lack of travelling this Memorial Weekend because of gas prices. I think its probably a combination of all sorts of things. Growth, weather, lack of travelling, and people just being careless.

There are indeed many factors. The growth rate has a very strong correlation with the water demand. In years when growth was slower, demand increased more slowly or in some cases actually decreased. In years when growth rates were much higher, water demand increased correspondingly.

Conservation measures have a lot to do with this. However, when the growth rate is high, it overcomes conservation measures, weather and other factors.

I don't think your Memorial Day hypothesis holds water (pun intended :D ). It appears that water use started rather steep increases in mid-May and has continued to peak well after Memorial Day.

In any case, yes, there are many factors. I believe that adding tens of thousands of new people is the dominant factor and that most of the others are just a drop in the bucket (pun intended :D ). And yet, the town's e-mail cited just a single factor: weather. And my point is that there's an elephant in the room -- recent skyrocketing growth -- that probably plays a bigger role but isn't noted.



I realize you want to point out growth as the enemy of everything. It certainly is not the friend of everything, and I am with you on concerns that it needs to slow down, but its not the enemy and the cause of all things evil. Perhaps this is one of those items that you and I will simply have to agree to disagree. Now let me go get a drink of water. Bottled of course.

You suppose entirely wrong. Growth is not an enemy. It is not evil. It is, in fact, desirable.

However, growth that significantly outpaces the infrastructure's ability to handle it is undesirable and unwise. And that is the situation that Cary finds itself in now. Current population growth and housing starts are matching those of the mid-90s, when a majority of people concluded that we needed to slow down, catch our breath and invest in the infrastructure catching up. It hasn't caught up in all areas yet, but still, town policy has changed to return to where we were 10 years ago (but now the trend is toward high-density housing, which exacerbates the growth-overwhelming-infrastructure problem).

Growth is not the problem. The current rate, pace and style of growth with respect to infrastructure in Cary, though, is a big problem, and we're all paying for it in many ways.

[kellyc]

In any case, yes, there are many factors. I believe that adding tens of thousands of new people is the dominant factor and that most of the others are just a drop in the bucket (pun intended :D ). And yet, the town's e-mail cited just a single factor: weather. And my point is that there's an elephant in the room -- recent skyrocketing growth -- that probably plays a bigger role but isn't noted.


Okay I see your point. Dont agree with it 100% but I understand a bit better what you are trying to say.



However, growth that significantly outpaces the infrastructure's ability to handle it is undesirable and unwise. And that is the situation that Cary finds itself in now. Current population growth and housing starts are matching those of the mid-90s, when a majority of people concluded that we needed to slow down, catch our breath and invest in the infrastructure catching up. It hasn't caught up in all areas yet, but still, town policy has changed to return to where we were 10 years ago (but now the trend is toward high-density housing, which exacerbates the growth-overwhelming-infrastructure problem).

We agree here too. My voting record on P&Z would agree too. I believe we have accelerated residential growth too much, and need to refocus our attention on increasing commercial and O&I growth. My biggest fear is that we are rezoning so many O&I's and Commercials to residential we are really really dooming ourselves. There will be no where for any major company to relocate in Cary. That could be a huge mistake. What happens if IBM lays off more and more people? Where are they going to work if we dont increase our business recruitment. I think I have made myself clear at P&Z meetings that I am not keen on that kind of rezoning change.

[Brent]

So do "we" tolerate the big stick of government over our collective heads for the goal of taming the irresponsible ones amoung us? And don our rose colored glasses so we can delude ourselves about the benevolence of government?

Bingo, Cathy, and we don't need to look far for the answer:



Key to investigating Cathy's questions:
BSOG = Big Stick of Government
RCGBG = Rose-Colored Glasses of "Benevolent" Government




[snip]

BSOG:
the Town of Cary is stepping up enforcement of the Town’s year-round, alternate day outdoor watering (ADW) and Water Waste laws, which went into effect in May 2000. On May 26, 2007, total usage jumped dramatically when customers took 25.2 million gallons of water from the Cary-Apex system; then on Tuesday, the usage hit a record high of 27 million gallons per day.
(people "took" "our" water and the water police will be swarming)

BSOG disguised as RCGBG:
Citizens can expect to see an increased number of Town staff out and about, especially at night, in the early morning, and on weekends looking for opportunities to help irrigators abide by the watering rules.
(the water police are watching / "opportunities" sounds so nice!)

BSOG:
The ADW rules allow customers to use automatic irrigation systems and sprinklers three specified days per week: even numbered addresses can water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Odd numbered addressees can water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. No automated watering is allowed on Mondays, but hand-watering is allowed any day of the week.

Because of their water supply contracts with Cary, citizens in Morrisville as well as the Wake County portion of the Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport must abide by the mandatory alternate day and water waste rules,
(we don't encourage or provide incentives; we tell you what you are ALLOWED to do and even tell those beyond our jurisdiction what MANDATORY rules the MUST ABIDE by)

RCGBG:
although RDU does have discretion over using the water they draw from their private wells.
(we're so benevolent...we ALLOW them to have "discretion" over what is theirs)

BSOG:
Given the importance of preserving finite resources, Cary’s mandatory watering program comes with tough penalties – for first offenders, two warnings are issued. Citations will follow for subsequent violations, carrying civil penalties of $100 for the first citation, $250 for the second, $500 for the third, and $1,000 for each subsequent citation. In addition to or in lieu of civil penalties, violation of the alternate day watering law is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable for each violation by a fine of up to $500 and/or incarceration for up to 30 days. And if all else fails, the Town Manager has the authority to suspend a customer’s water service—in whole or in part—if he determines that an imminent water emergency exists and/or that the customer has failed to comply with the alternate day watering program on numerous occasions.
(we can take your money, throw you in jail and cut off your water! hahahahaha!)

BSOG disguised as RCGBG:
"While we can and will fine violators if left with no other option, our goal is compliance by educating citizens on the importance of following the Town’s watering ordinances,” said Interim Public Works and Utilities Director Mike Bajorek.
(we can be the bad water cops, but we can also be the good water cops)

[snip]

BSOG disguised as RCGBG:
Earlier this month, Cary kicked off its annual Beat the Peak campaign, “Hesitate Before you Irrigate,” which reminds citizens of the Town’s three, year-round water ordinances aimed at decreasing demand by conserving water, including: Alternate Day Watering, Water Waste and Rain Sensor ordinances. As part of the Water Waste Ordinance, residents are not permitted to irrigate on impervious surfaces such as streets and driveways and water their landscape to the degree that it causes runoff down curbs and into stormdrains. Lastly, the Rain Sensor Ordinance requires a rain sensor set at ¼ inch on all automatic irrigation systems.
(we have cute slogans for what we call our "reminders", but mostly, we're just laying down the law)


RCGBG:
Also part of the Beat the Peak campaign, the Town will distribute more than 40,000 postcards to Cary and Morrisville utility customers with tips on how to reduce water use and a reminder of all three water ordinances. Also, nearly 10,000 conservation slide guides with tips on how to conserve water will be distributed throughout Cary and Morrisville in June. Water ordinance reminders have begun running on local radio stations and citizens can also watch special segments on water conservation on Cary TV 11 in June. These publicity efforts are in addition to newspaper reminders that the Town is running in May and June.
(campaign, reminders, tips, publicity...la, la, la! We're just being benevolent...did we mention we're using your money?)

[snip]

[Brent]

We agree here too. My voting record on P&Z would agree too. I believe we have accelerated residential growth too much, and need to refocus our attention on increasing commercial and O&I growth. My biggest fear is that we are rezoning so many O&I's and Commercials to residential we are really really dooming ourselves. There will be no where for any major company to relocate in Cary. That could be a huge mistake. What happens if IBM lays off more and more people? Where are they going to work if we dont increase our business recruitment. I think I have made myself clear at P&Z meetings that I am not keen on that kind of rezoning change.

Absolutely -- we most certainly do agree here. There are no large parcels of land left for any major new office parks. On the one hand, we're saying "economic development/recruit businesses!", yet on the other, we're zoning away any place for those businesses to go. Cary has long had a higher-than-normal residential-to-commercial ratio and it's getting further out of kilter.

And by the way, the developable land is becoming close to gone. And in many respects, office/commercial is much better payback in terms of additional revenue vs. additional infrastructure burden. So preserving office/commercial is in our long-term best interests, but it gets in the way of a few people making a quick buck.

[dhyatt]

Consider this: Cary's "Water Conservation & Peak Demand Management Plan" from April 2000 (link (http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/waterconservation/wcplanexecsumm.pdf)) contains the following sentence:
(emphasis added)

"Based on forecasted changes in the demographics of the Town, the average daily retail water demand is projected to increase from 8.6 MGD in 1998, the base year used for this study, to 26.7 MGD in 2028."

We surpassed the 2028 estimate during a somewhat typical Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend. Something's clearly wrong. Rough calculations extrapolated from existing population numbers, permits either approved or "in the pipeline", and our existing growth rate of ~6%/yr show we could have a population of 150K and be at max capacity of 40 MGD as soon as 2012! - i.e. in less than 5 years. Houston - we have a problem.

<hr>

Update 7:15pm - I just received some information from the Town of Cary that is very relevant to the discussion here. I was reminded the "Tuesday" peak was considerably higher than typically daily usage and that average daily usage for Jan - Apr of this year is <10 MGD. I have asked for monthly data going back to 2000 and should have it next week. I think it's important that we understand whether there's a water shortage issue or simply a peak demand management issue. The Town's PSA certainly didn't provide this information, so I will - once I get it. :-)

[DarylB]

I'll pose this as a fairly simple question:

Which is more damaging to Cary and Wake county; watering your grass on your "off day", or continuing to advertise in New Jersey trade magazines in an ongoing and concerted government effort to bring more people to the area, knowing there are already water shortages, and then dumping 9 million gallons of raw sewage into that water which is left?

[MattD]

I'll pose this as a fairly simple question:

Which is more damaging to Cary and Wake county; watering your grass on your "off day", or continuing to advertise in New Jersey trade magazines in an ongoing and concerted government effort to bring more people to the area, knowing there are already water shortages, and then dumping 9 million gallons of raw sewage into that water which is left?

DB - it was 8 million, not 9 million gallons of raw sewage :-X :-X ... not that 1 million less makes it any better...

[StanN]

Kelly said:


We agree here too. My voting record on P&Z would agree too. I believe we have accelerated residential growth too much, and need to refocus our attention on increasing commercial and O&I growth. My biggest fear is that we are rezoning so many O&I's and Commercials to residential we are really really dooming ourselves. There will be no where for any major company to relocate in Cary. That could be a huge mistake. What happens if IBM lays off more and more people? Where are they going to work if we dont increase our business recruitment. I think I have made myself clear at P&Z meetings that I am not keen on that kind of rezoning change.

Totally agree. Remember our past: five years of totally ineffectual efforts on Economic Development. Now we have someone managing the process. Q: Who is really managing it? Clue: Who managed the old, so called ED effort? Judge by what they do and not by what they say.

StanN

[Brent]

Totally agree. Remember our past: five years of totally ineffectual efforts on Economic Development. Now we have someone managing the process. Q: Who is really managing it? Clue: Who managed the old, so called ED effort? Judge by what they do and not by what they say.

The person whose salary our tax dollars pay reports to the Cary Chamber. Not to the council, but to the Chamber. Although we pay for the entire program.

That program costs $750,000 over 3 years (that's correct, three-quarters of a million dollars). Part of the money was supposed to pay for a second person; that second person has not been hired (the person whose salary we're paying said that was good, because he needed the money for "startup costs" -- and if you look at those startup costs, we taxpayers were gouged like you wouldn't believe. Truly a real ripoff).

Also, that $3/4M was supposed to include a specific plan and strategy for ED. That plan does not exist.

So yes, we had 5 years of ineffective waffling on ED. Then we got serious and ponied up some money; that money has gotten us nothing that I can discern and the only accountability for the program is to the president of the Cary Chamber.

Nice gig if you can get it, I suppose. :P