Outer Banks plans for tomorrow's thirst 



Nobody has to tell John Bone how important 

 water and tourism are to the Outer Banks. 



Most of the jobs there depend on that suc- 

 cessful combination. 



So when Dare County imposed a moratorium 

 on new water hook-ups two years ago, his office 

 was flooded with phone calls. 



"People were saying, 'I heard you don't have any 

 water. Should we still come on our vacation?' " 

 says Bone, executive vice president of the Outer 

 Banks Chamber of Commerce. 



Bone convinced the tourists that faucets weren't 

 dry. The moratorium was simply a protective 

 measure to keep development from outstripping 

 the water supply. 



When the season was over, vacationers had 

 spent $303 million in the county. 



But the moratorium sent a message to everyone 

 who visits or lives at the coast. 



Water is a finite resource, and we can't wait un- 

 til we're out of it to start planning for the future. 



That philosophy is especially true for North 

 Carolina's Outer Banks, where the only drinkable 

 groundwater is a very thin layer of fresh water. 



The building boom presents an added threat to 

 that fragile system, says Perry Nelson of the N.C. 

 Division of Environmental Management. 



According to census figures. Dare County's 

 population increased 28.9 percent from 1980 to 

 1985. That's the fastest growth rate in the state, ex- 

 ceeding rates in metropolitan areas such as 

 Mecklenburg and Wake counties. 



The increased development worries Nelson. He 

 and other hydrologists predict that it will be 

 water, not land, that may eventually limit develop- 

 ment on the Outer Banks. 



Bone emphasizes there is no lack of water now. 

 But he admits the economy of the area could 

 shrivel without careful planning for the future. 



Now Dare County relies on three sources of 

 water. 



A regional system serves the county from a well 

 field in Wanchese. And a freshwater pond 

 operated by Nags Head supplements the regional 

 system. Each town in the county is allotted a cer- 

 tain percentage of the water. 



The Hatteras Water Association serves residents 

 south of Avon. And individual wells are dotted 

 throughout the county. 



