NEWS

By GARY MOSS
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will respond immediately to implement water conservation measures that are consistent with the restrictions the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) imposed Thursday on Chapel Hill and Carborro.

Ray DuBose, the university's director of energy services who serves as the liaison to OWASA, has worked with the water authority throughout the summer as Carolina took voluntary steps to consume less water. Carolina has developed a "Stage 1" plan to restrict usage in anticipation of OWASA's

decision to impose mandatory restrictions within the two towns.

DuBose said that "Stage 1" signifies that – without significant rain -- there are 125 days of water supply left.

Carolina consumes a little more than a fourth of the water that OWASA supplies, DuBose said. Given that fact, DuBose said, university officials are well aware of the crucial role that the university must play to help the county get through what is already the worst drought ever in the area.

"We at the university understand the seriousness of the current water situation and we have presented our plans for full compliance to OWASA," DuBose said. "We want to do our part to help get the community get through this crisis."

The university instituted the "Stage 1" water shortage irrigation plan on July 12, the day after OWASA's action. Under the plan, Carolina will:

· Defer new plantings as they may require water in excess of the 1-inch-per-week that the Stage I restrictions allow.

· Monitor rainfall, its irrigation, and planting conditions to assure that no more water is applied than necessary.

· Apply less than 1 inch of irrigation water per week. Adjustments will be made in irrigation frequencies and quantities so that further reductions in water use may be realized.

· Use water from other sources, such as wells, for irrigation where possible. For instance, a campus well on the southeast corner supplies water for the Coker Arboretum, the 100-year-old five-acre historic landscape next to the Morehead Planetarium. (About half of the university's irrigation systems operate on wells.)

The plan also includes a special watering plan for the 600-acre North Carolina Botanical Garden. The garden contains two five-acre sites of intensely developed and managed botanical and horticultural collections that must be watered more frequently to survive.

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Contact: Mike McFarland, (919)962-8593