Your Nov. 29 article "New reservoir's protection too lax, Raleigh leaders say" highlighted problems facing approval of the planned Little River reservoir. Duke University's Bill Holman said he feels state regulators will find the watershed rules inadequate and that Raleigh will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up its primary drinking water source.

Unfortunately, this is still a conversation about constructing reservoirs -- what we should be talking about is using the water we already have more wisely. American Rivers has done just that and recently released a report called "Hidden Reservoir: why water efficiency is the best solution for the Southeast," showing that water-efficiency solutions are cost-effective, proven and timely.

For example, if Raleigh implemented water efficiency rather than building new reservoirs, it could save up to $60 million and 40 percent of the region's current consumption -- or 20 million gallons a day.

The greatest promise for North Carolina's water supply is to pursue water efficiency first and take the necessary steps to uncover the hidden reservoir that efficiency can provide.

Peter Raabe

Durham

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