Local government officials on Thursday sent the Orange Water and Sewer Authority back to tweak its water-use ordinance before it comes to a vote next week.
Town and county officials heard a presentation from OWASA board member Lee Culpepper and then made a handful of suggestions they asked OWASA to address when finalizing its proposal.
In its Water Conservation Rules and Standards, OWASA officials have proposed increasing year-round conservation efforts to mitigate any future droughts by having a larger emergency supply. They also decided to reconfigure the different restriction stages of the ordinance.
But some of the officials asked OWASA to intensify certain aspects of the standards to avoid the severe conditions brought on by last summer's drought.
The OWASA board of directors has been retooling the ordinance to make it stricter after Orange County's most severe drought in history.
The public was presented with OWASA's proposal in December of 2002. After receiving a great deal of feedback, officials reconvened and made some changes.
They returned Jan. 9 for more public feedback, which they later discussed at a private meeting. That revised draft is what was presented to town and county officials Thursday.
When talks began, Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist expressed concern about the early stages' allowance of spray irrigation. "I'd like to see restrictions on watering grass as soon as there's a problem," she said.
Alderman Joal Broun went further and said she thinks the proposal should be harsher on all types of irrigation. "Water is to eat, drink and wash," she said. "The purpose of water is not to have a green lawn."
