AN ACT to require community water systems that regularly serve one thousand or more service connections or three thousand or more individuals to prepare Local Water supply plans, to provide that the department of environment and natural resources shall establish a drought management advisory council, and to authorize the council to issue drought advisories.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑355(l) reads as rewritten:
"(l)	For purposes of this subsection, 'community water system' means a community water system, as defined in G.S. 130A-313(10), that regularly serves 1,000 or more service connections or 3,000 or more individuals. Each unit of local government that provides public water service or that plans to provide public water service and each community water system shall, either individually or together with other units of local government and community water systems, prepare a local water supply plan and submit it to the Department. The Department shall provide technical assistance with the preparation of plans to units of local government and community water systems upon request and to the extent that the Department has resources available to provide assistance. At a minimum, each unit of local government and community water system shall include in local water supply plans all information that is readily available to it. Plans shall include present and projected population, industrial development, and water use within the service area; present and future water supplies; an estimate of the technical assistance that may be needed at the local level to address projected water needs; current and future water conservation and water reuse programs; a description of how the local government or community water system will respond to drought and other water shortage emergencies and continue to meet essential public water supply needs during the emergency; and any other related information as the Department may require in the preparation of a State water supply plan. Local plans shall be revised to reflect changes in relevant data and projections at least once each five years unless the Department requests more frequent revisions. The revised plan shall include the current and anticipated reliance by the local government unit or community water system on surface water transfers as defined by G.S. 143‑215.22G. Local plans and revised plans shall be submitted to the Department once they have been approved by each unit of local government and community water system that participated in the preparation of the plan."
SECTION 2.  Article 38 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143-355.1.  Drought Management Advisory Council; drought advisories.
(a)	The Department shall establish a Drought Management Advisory Council. The purposes of the Council are:
(1)	To improve coordination among local, State, and federal agencies; public water systems, as defined in G.S. 130A-313(10); and water users to improve the management and mitigation of the harmful effects of drought.
(2)	To provide consistent and accurate information to the public about drought conditions.
(b)	The Department shall invite each of the following organizations to designate a representative to serve on the Council:
(1)	North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.
(2)	State Climate Office at North Carolina State University.
(3)	Public Staff of the Utilities Commission.
(4)	Wildlife Resources Commission.
(5)	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
(6)	Department of Commerce.
(7)	Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
(8)	National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce.
(9)	United States Geological Survey of the United States Department of the Interior.
(10)	United States Army Corps of Engineers.
(11)	United States Department of Agriculture.
(12)	Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
(c)	The Department shall also invite other agencies and organizations that represent water users, including local governments, agriculture, agribusiness, forestry, manufacturing, and others as appropriate, to designate a representative to serve on the Council or to participate in the work of the Council with respect to particular drought related issues.
(d)	The Department shall designate an employee of the Department to serve as Chair of the Council. The Council shall meet at least once in each calendar year in order to maintain appropriate agency readiness and participation. In addition, the Council shall meet on the call of the Chair to respond to drought conditions. The provisions of Article 33C of this Chapter apply to meetings of the Council.
(e)	In order to provide accurate and consistent information to assist local governments and other water users in taking appropriate drought response actions, the Council may issue drought advisories that designate:
(1)	Specific areas of the State in which drought conditions are impending.
(2)	Specific areas of the State that are suffering from drought conditions.
(3)	The level of severity of drought conditions.
(f)	In making a determination of any of the drought designations described in subsection (e) of this section, the Council shall consider stream flows, ground water levels, the amount of water stored in reservoirs, weather forecasts, the time of year, and other factors that are relevant to determining the location and severity of drought conditions."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.  The first local water supply plans prepared by community water systems pursuant to G.S. 143‑355(l), as amended by Section 1 of this act, are due on or before 1 January 2004.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 17th day of July, 2003.

	_____________________________________
		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	_____________________________________
		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2003