According to the latest report from the North Carolina Drought Management Council, thirteen counties remain classified under extreme drought conditions, fifteen under severe conditions and twenty-eight under moderate drought conditions. Thirty-two counties appear to be out of the woods with no drought designation at this time. Recommendations and regulations are issued by state and local governments in times of drought and those rules were tightened up and a new law extended governmental authority.
The 2008 General Assembly passed House Bill 2499, An Act to Improve Drought Preparedness and Response in North Carolina, as
recommended by the Environmental Review Commission in the last days of the session with rewrites, revisions, compromises and lots of confusion. There were many concerns with stricter regulation of water supplies controls put in place for local and state government entities. Regulation of private wells was of great concern and the rules were in, they were out and in the end they were ambiguous and confusing. During the floor debate, key sponsors of the bill assured legislators that citizens? private drinking wells were safe from government regulation but many legislators weren?t so sure and voted against the bill. After some last minute changes and language that would seem to protect private wells disappeared, the bill passed and is now law.
In the Senate, thirty six members voted yes on the bill. These nine voted against: Apodaca (R- Henderson); Phil Berger (R-Rockingham); Brock (R-Davie); Brown (R-Onslow); East (R-Surry); Goodall (R-Union); Nesbitt (D-Buncombe); Smith (R- Johnston); Tillman (R- Randolph).
The vote in the House was 68-36 with the following Representatives voting no: Allred (R-Alamance); Avila (R-Wake); Blackwood (R-Union); Blust (R-Guilford); Boylan (R- Moore); Brown (R- Forsyth); Brubaker (R-Randolph); Clary (R-Cleveland); Cleveland (R-Onslow); Daughtridge (R-Nash); Dockham (R-Davidson); Faison (D- Orange); Folwell (R-Forsyth); Frye (R- Mitchell); Gillespie (R- McDowell); Hilton (R- Catawba); Holloway (R- Stokes); Hurley (R-Randolph); Johnson (R-Cabarrus); Justus (R-Henderson); Killian (R-Mecklenberg); Kiser (R-Lincoln); Langdon (R-Johnston); McComas (R-New Hanover); Moore (R- Cleveland); Neumann (R- Gaston); Pate (R- Wayne); Ray (R-Iredell); Setzer (R-Catawba); Starnes(R-Caldwell); Steen (R- Rowan); Tillis (R-Mecklenburg); Walend (R-Transylvania); Walker (R- Wilkes); West (R-Cherokee); Wiley (R-Guilford)
In case you haven?t seen it, Daren Bakst has taken another look at House Bill 2499 (S.L. 2008-143) and concluded that private well regulation is indeed authorized in this law. There is a simple fix to tighten the language to ensure private wells are not subject to state or local regulation and as Daren suggests, should be considered by the 2009 General Assembly as one of their first orders of business.
For a detailed explanation of why North Carolina?s new drought management bill does not expressly prohibit the regulation of water use from private wells, read the Spotlight, Private Well Regulation, A Real Possibility for North Carolinians.
And then pray for rain.
