July 19 - 25, 2018
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Water: how much do we use, and how is it recharged? by STEVE MANN
septic systems over and over again.”
In this issue we continue with Part 2 of an article that appeared in our July 12-18 issue on water and water recharge.
The loss of water globally has been negligible, he said.
Jim Beeson, a soil scientist and president of Piedmont Environmental Associates PA, said about 95 percent of the water at residences is used in a washing machine, flushing a toilet, running a shower and washing dishes. And that is returned to the groundwater through septic systems. “Very little of it are you actually drinking and consuming,” he said. “You used that water and returned that water to the groundwater table.” As a result, there is continuous circulation of water from land and sea to the atmosphere and back again, a hydrologic cycle. “If we’re not taking that water out of our watershed and disposing of it, we’ll recycle it,” Beeson said. “We’ve turned this volume of water over with wells and
IN THIS ISSUE News in brief.............................2 Your Questions.........................4 On a Mission: ORUMC.............6 Summerfield Town Council.....8 NWO Business/Real Estate.... 11 BB&T leadership institute.......12 Real Estate Transactions........20
“The earth has not lost a molecule of water other than what went up in a space vehicle,” he said. “It’s all here on the blue marble.” It’s been reported that the water table in such states as Texas and California is dropping 100 feet every 10 years. Beeson said that isn’t likely to happen here. “We’re not irrigating like they do,” he said. “We’re not pumping water out of our groundwater here to some farm 50 miles away. We’re returning it right here. We have so little agriculture we irrigate here now it’s not going to make an impact.”
ary of this year. There are no recording wells in Stokesdale and Summerfield, said Doug Smith, a hydrologist with the USGS, but he estimates the average depth to the water level in those towns is about 20 to 22.5 feet. The three municipalities have an eye on groundwater recharge with their zoning districts.
RS-30 is no longer allowed for new developments in Oak Ridge, and no property in Summerfield was allowed to be rezoned to RS-30 after May 4, 1999. Stokesdale has RS-40 and RS-30, but the Ordinance Review Committee recommended eliminating RS-30 and
requiring a minimum lot size of 1 acre. The issue may be put on the agenda for the Aug. 9 town council meeting for public discussion. During the June 14 council meeting, Mayor John Flynt said he would like to see a rural preservation district (RPD) that would allow cluster homes or townhouses. In Oak Ridge, the overall gross density in RS-40 areas is one unit or less per acre. The Town Core-Residential District (TC-R) limits the overall gross density to a maximum of two units per acre. There are three other zoning districts that are residential or allow
...continued on p. 3
According to the United States Geological Survey, the average depth to the water level has fluctuated very little in northwest North Carolina. In Oak Ridge, it has averaged between 19 and 23 feet from March 2016 through Janu-
Real Estate Briefs....................21 Bits & Pieces............................22 Business Notes........................23 Crime/Incident Report..........24 Community Calendar...........25 Grins & Gripes.........................26 Classifieds...............................27 Index of Advertisers...............31
Photo by Chris Burritt/NWO
Oak Ridge Town Manager Bill Bruce writes down growth and development trends for council members during the town council’s third strategic planning session on Tuesday. During the session, the council discussed the town’s strengths and weaknesses, including a shortage of less-expensive houses and congestion on N.C. 68, and current population trends as part of developing a strategic plan to guide the town’s growth over the next five to 10 years.