Orange County Coalition Aims to Educate on Drought

H2Orange, which went into effect in mid-August, is a coalition of agencies and nonprofit organizations working to educate the public about the severity of the drought, both now and in the future.

Eric Griffin, H2Orange chairman, said the group hopes to improve conservation. "H2Orange was created because the county wanted a coordinated response to the drought," Griffin said. "There were many agencies doing stuff for the drought that we wanted everything to be coordinated so they wouldn't duplicate efforts."

Although H2Orange has been operating for only a month, he said progress has been made toward awareness.

"Once word got out, it took out on its own," Griffin said. "No other county is doing this as far as I know."

He said H2Orange essentially is an education campaign, with a drought hotline and community outreach programs teaching water-saving tips.

Another important part of H2Orange is its donation campaign, the Drought Drive, which Griffin said allows nonprofit organizations and private donors to contribute bottled water and paper products to those who are unable to afford them.

He said this drive will give people access to these products, which might be required if the drought persists.

"People without finances do not have the resources, so it is hard to reduce," Griffin said. "You can't ask someone to do something if they can't afford it."

H2Orange also is working with the Orange County Department of Social Services and the Inter-Faith Council in its efforts to spread information about ways to save water and host donor drives.

Recently H2Orange worked with Wal-Mart to give 1,000 gallons of water to organizations in the area through the company's "Disaster Relief" program, said Wal-Mart representative Steve Dooley.

Dooley added that Wal-Mart plans to stay closely in tune with the drought to send relief to help the community.

Greg Feller, spokesman for Orange Water and Sewer Authority, the water supplier for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area, said H2Orange helps provide much-needed information throughout the county. "H2Orange is a good initiative by Orange County and county agencies," he said. "H2Orange's efforts complement OWASA and bring additional resources."

Griffin said he foresees the program as a long-term plan, adding that the drought disaster will not be solved any time soon.

"H2Orange is going to be a multi-hazard disaster planning group," he said. "Disasters have to be planned for. We will talk about zoning, limiting development and other solutions."

Griffin said that although the organization does not have a lot of direction as to future activities, he is confident that H2Orange will be around for a long time.

"It will still be needed to plan for any future problems."

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