Controversial water bill

dries up for this year
By Scott Nicholson

A bill granting the state jurisdiction over most public waters will likely not be heard in the legislature until next year.

Rep. Cullie Tarleton (D-93), chairman of the Water Resources Committee in the N.C. House of Representatives, is one of the sponsors of the bill, which grew out of a study in the wake of the 2008 drought.

Tarleton said he agreed with many provisions of the bill, though he ridiculed a rumor that says the bill would regulate private wells and impose an annual fee on the use of private wells.

“There’s nothing in that bill that people on private wells will be subject to paying an annual permit fee,” he said. “The whole bill came from the water-allocation study of 2008, based on recommendations. No one here, least of all me, would even consider such a ridiculous idea.”

Tarleton predicts the bill will be heard in next year’s short session of the General Assembly, saying it’s an important issue as water resources become strained.

The bill’s opening declarations call water “a public trust resource” owned by the state “in trust for the public,” and granting the state sovereign power to regulate and control water withdrawals and use.

It also would establish a permitting system for water withdrawals to create legal protection and establish the state as the arbiter of water disputes. The bill also seeks to promote efficient and productive use of public waters.

“The allocation study called attention to how critical the water situation is and how we all need to conserve water and work together,” Tarleton said. “People with streams that run through property need to have access to the water but be cognizant of the people who live downstream.”

Tarleton said he wasn’t supportive of the entire bill, especially in granting the state jurisdiction over all water supplies.

“I don’t like the inference in the bill that the state has jurisdiction over all water,” he said. “I’m concerned some about the potential impact on business and the commercial water permitting fees. Again, we need to be aware, and industry needs to be aware, that there’s not unlimited resources out there.”

Tarleton advocates more conservation education, reaching all levels of education, particularly in the early grades.

“There is no sense of urgency except trying to develop a statewide conservation education program.” Tarleton said. “When we went through the drought of 2008, we were all sensitized to what life could be like. When you look at projected population growth of North Carolina, it’s critical that we manage our water resources.”

Tarleton also said the bill is not related to a separate bill that would grant the town of Boone the legal right to place a new water intake plant on the New River bordering Watauga and Ashe counties.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Tarleton said. “I submitted that bill at the request of Boone Town Council, based on their attorney’s advice that under a 1995 Supreme Court decision, they probably needed legislative approval to put that intake on the New River.”

The Boone intake bill passed the House but has not been voted on in the Senate. The town is seeking a permit to draw four million gallons of water per day from the site in Brownwood.

Tarleton said the water-resources bill doesn’t address jurisdiction of such regional water uses and contains no restrictions on where municipalities can draw water. Under existing rules, water can’t be transferred between different river basins and the amount of water taken from waterways are limited based upon overall river flow.

“The bill introduced for Boone gives legal authority if they meet all the other state and federal permitting requirements,” Tarleton said.

“In no way does it lessen their responsibility to meet all other requirements.”

Even though the drought that plagued the state for two years is mostly over, Tarleton said water issues would remain prominent.

“We’ve always been so accustomed to walking in and turning on the faucet and the water comes on,” he said. “Water and access to water will be one of the major issues of the next decade.”