A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to direct the department of environment and natural resources to enlarge the carvers creek sandhills area being considered as a potential state park to include adjoining property on the cape fear river and to construct and establish a dam and reservoir on this property to serve as a regional water supply.
Whereas, the Cape Fear River is one of the 20 most polluted rivers in the United States; and
Whereas, Section 5 of Article XIV of the North Carolina Constitution states that it shall be a proper function of the State of North Carolina to acquire and preserve park, recreational, and scenic areas and, in every other appropriate way, to preserve as a part of the common heritage of this State its open lands and places of beauty; and
Whereas, the General Assembly enacted the State Parks Act in 1987, declaring that the State of North Carolina offers unique archaeological, geological, biological, scenic, and recreational resources and that these resources are part of the heritage of the people of this State to be preserved and managed by those people for their use and for the use of their visitors and descendants; and
Whereas, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has identified a parcel of land located at the eastern edge of the Sandhills region just north of Fayetteville and east of Fort Bragg, the Carvers Creek Sandhills area, as a potential addition to the State Parks System; and
Whereas, the area on the Cape Fear River in Cumberland County adjoining the Carvers Creek Sandhills area contains examples of outstanding scenic beauty and has been found to possess biological, scenic, and recreational resources of statewide significance; and
Whereas, developing a State park in Cumberland County and constructing a dam and reservoir in the State park on the Cape Fear River would provide outstanding opportunities for recreation to the public; and
Whereas, the area currently under consideration by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for a potential State park should be enlarged from the Carvers Creek Sandhills area to include a larger area on the Cape Fear River in Cumberland County; and
Whereas, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources should include plans for constructing a dam and a reservoir on the Cape Fear River in this enlarged area in Cumberland County in order to provide a regional water supply for Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and the surrounding area; and
Whereas, the area on the Cape Fear River for the dam and reservoir is suitable for the development of a regional water supply system from the standpoint of present and projected populations of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and the surrounding area; and
Whereas, a dam and a reservoir on the Cape Fear River in Cumberland County will improve water quality, support aquatic life, and provide a much‑needed regional public drinking water supply, thereby attracting needed business and industry to the area; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall enlarge the Carvers Creek Sandhills area that the Department is currently considering as a potential State park to add to the State Parks System to include adjoining property located on the Cape Fear River in Cumberland County. 
SECTION 2.  The General Assembly makes the following findings regarding the desirability of constructing and establishing a dam and reservoir on the Cape Fear River for a regional water supply in the enlarged area to be included in the State park addition under Section 1 of this act:
(1)	The enlarged area is suitable for the development of a regional water supply system from the standpoint of present and projected populations of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and the surrounding area.
(2)	Establishing a dam and reservoir in this area would significantly enhance and conserve water quality in the Cape Fear River and in the area.
(3)	Establishing a dam and reservoir in this area would further the objectives of the basinwide management plans for the Cape Fear River Basin and watershed.
(4)	Establishing a dam and reservoir in this area would preserve resources with significant recreational or economic value and uses.
(6)	Establishing a dam and reservoir in this area would add to the development of a network of riparian buffer greenways bordering the Cape Fear River in the State park that would serve environmental, educational, and recreational uses.
SECTION 3.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall construct and establish a dam and reservoir on the Cape Fear River in the enlarged area for the purpose of establishing a regional water supply in the new State park to provide water for Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and the surrounding area. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall include the construction and establishment of a dam and reservoir for a regional water supply in its plans for the addition to the State Parks System consistent with Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 4.  The Division of Parks and Recreation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall provide for an engineer to determine the blueprint that specifies the boundaries of the enlarged area under Section 1 of this act, and this blueprint shall be considered in the planning process for the addition to the State parks system that encompasses the Carvers Creek Sandhills area.
SECTION 5.  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall purchase additional land consistent with the blueprint developed under Section 4 of this act.
SECTION 6.  To fund the purchase of land and to construct a dam and reservoir to be used as a regional water supply under this act, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall request the North Carolina Congressional Delegation to apply to the Congress of the United States for appropriations for this water resources development project, and the Department shall seek funding from the following sources:
(1)	Funds from the Regional Water Supply Planning Revolving Fund established in G.S. 162A‑24 for advances to meet the cost of advance planning and engineering work necessary for the development of a comprehensive plan for the regional water supply system under Section 3 of this act and for any other purposes that the project is eligible to receive under G.S. 162A‑24.
(2)	Grants from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund under Article 13A of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes.
(3)	Funds available to the Department for water resources development projects.
SECTION 7.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.