In January 2014, my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia, woke to a terrible odor coming from the water. 10,000 gallons of crude MCHM (4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol) had leaked into the Elk and Kanawha Rivers. Within hours, over 700 people developed health issues and a state of emergency was declared. Bottled water was provided, but for months West Virginians lived in fear, and the economy came to a screeching halt.

Loose environmental restrictions, lack of inspections, and a short-sighted mentality that this could never happen meant my hometown lived the nightmare of no clean water.  As a Morrisville town councilor, I worry that one day we might wake up to severe contamination of Jordan Lake, and our lives will no longer be the same.  By not implementing the Jordan Lake clean water rules, our legislature is taking the short term view that everything is fine, but our water is already polluted.

The time is now.  Future generations of Wake County citizens are depending on us to do the right thing. We must take a long term view of smart growth and initiate proactive measures to preserve our water supply in Wake County.