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Clean water is essential for life. Abundant rivers and reservoirs have been a key, if often overlooked, contributor to North Carolina’s economy and quality of life. We use surface water for energy generation, drinking, and recreation. The current extreme drought is sending us a signal: we can’t take our water supplies for granted. Use the form below to add your own thoughts and urge your state legislator to:

• Require efficient use of water. More efficient water use means existing supplies can reach further, making droughts a less serious threat. Even outside of droughts, efficient water use benefits the economy—businesses and residents can spend less on water, and local governments can spend less on expanding the capacity of water supply and treatment systems.
• Link growth decisions to water supplies. No matter how efficiently we use water, we’ll run into problems if we approve more residential and commercial water use than supplies can meet during a drought. Unfortunately, while state law requires water system operators to plan ahead, there is no link in state law between water supply availability and local government decisions to approve new development.
• Update our water laws for the 21st century. North Carolina’s water allocation laws are an outdated patchwork. Some parts date from two centuries ago, when the main question was how much water a landowner could withdraw from a river for his personal use—however, we now need much more sophisticated water laws that can determine how much water entire cities can withdraw for their ever—growing populations. Other laws are much more recent, but deal with very specific situations, like moving water from one river basin to another. The patchwork is breaking down under the stress of growth, with communities fighting for access to limited water supplies.

Click here for additional background information.