As the Charlotte Observer article discusses, a bill in the legislature (HB 1101, SB 907) would require large water users to apply for permits before being able to use water.
A couple of key passages from the article:
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The measure also places a new burden on permit applicants to prove that their withdrawals won’t hurt anyone drawing from the same water supply...
The N.C. Farm Bureau, which represents a half-million families, calls the bill extreme…
Some of the state’s largest industries are wary, said Preston Howard of the Manufacturers and Chemical Industry Council of North Carolina.
?We’re not opposed to having to get a permit to do this, that or the other,? he said. ?But the way the language is drawn, what industry is going to come into this state and make a multimillion-dollar investment on the promise of a five-year permit??
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Lesson One: Required reporting of water use (or reporting of anything) will lead to the regulation of water use. This is why reporting requirements should be fought from the very start (see last year’s drought bill that was supported by the special interests). Now that reporting requirements for large water use are in place, the government will know if you need to get a permit to use your own water. Industry and farming representatives only have themselves to blame for this (see lesson three).
Lesson Two: The legislature will continue to ignore water supply issues when it can simply restrict water use. The discussion needs to be changed and the focus needs to be on water supply–what is the government doing to make sure that water sources not currently available, are made available? What laws are blocking perfectly good water sources from being accessed?
Lesson Three: Preston, you need to start opposing permits. Industry, in general, has to stop playing political games (and being politically correct) by giving in on these critical issues because once you do give in, even a little, you have already lost.
