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8 development in the City and the City is not static relative to growth. He urged Council to be thoughtful. Mr. Tom Jones, a resident of Albemarle County who lives adjacent to the Rivanna Reservoir, said he is concerned about the sustainability of the reservoir because of the amount of siltation, and encouraged Council and RWSA to re-explore the situation. He said siltation is caused by development in the City as well. As there were no further speakers, the public hearing was closed. Mr. Lynch said that the focus in developing the water supply plan was preventing a bad idea (James River option), and we jumped at the alternative. He said we have not asked if this is the best we can do locally. He said he does not think so. He said we have a 50 year plan but nothing requires us to build it all at once right now. He said we should plan on how we can do it incrementally. He said he is concerned about the cost to the City and the loss of land and water quality. He said we should talk to the County about protecting the rivers. He said it is debatable about how much of the $140 million is for growth versus maintenance. He said he would guess a lot is for expansion. He said water usage in the City has steadily declined, but the cost has doubled since 2000. He expressed concern about the cost doubling again, but being unable to point to anything better. He said there are bigger issues we need to look at. He said we have to repair the Ragged Mountain dam, but he thinks there will be better options in 20 years. He said the cheaper option would be to put a bladder at the South Fork dam, which would cost between $10 and $12 million, but it was shot down by the Army Corps of Engineers. He said he does think the current regulations will be in place in 20 years. He said there is also the Quarry option, and he thinks dredging is a huge option. He said we should maintain what we have at the South Fork reservoir. He said he thinks we will see cheaper dredging techniques. He said there has been a good start with the public process and plan. He said we should be careful before we sign onto a $140 million project when the City does not need it. He said RWSA needs to come up with replacement park land. Mr. Norris said he agrees with much of what Mr. Lynch has said. He said some of the requests made by Dr. Mooney seem reasonable, and said he would like more information on the cost estimates. He said there is a lot of merit in the idea of analyzing the alternatives, including a better analysis of siltation prevention. He said he strongly agrees about compensation for lost park land and one for one tree replacement. Mr. Taliaferro said he agrees with Mr. Lynch and Mr. Norris. He asked if Council was in such a hurry that some options were disregarded. He said he would like to take a closer look at dredging. Dr. Brown noted that Council spent a lot of time on this issue, and was provided a lot of information about dredging. He said the cost was huge, especially for treatment and storage. He said several joint meetings were held with Albemarle County officials. He said the environmental community pushed to keep the supply in the watershed. He said our hands are tied by the rules. He said we cannot develop a plan based on our hope that the regulations will change in 20 years. He noted that the plan was approved by a unanimous vote of the Council and the Board of Supervisors. He said one of the big positives of the plan is restoring the health of the Mormon’s River. He said a big challenge is how to pay for the plan. He said he would like to implement more storage, noting that we are in a drought right now. Dr. Brown said it would be great to look more at dredging and to see if there is cheap technology that would allow us to protect the reservoir even if it did not increase the water supply. He said he is interested in being responsive to the concerns he has heard, such as new dredging techniques, cost share, and ways to compensate the community for loss of land. He noted that the land was acquired for the purpose of having a reservoir. Ms. Hamilton said there does not appear to be a plan for the siltation in the reservoir. She suggested exploring putting it at Panorama Farms. She agreed there was a tremendous effort in coming up with a plan, but noted that there were no meetings after the plan was approved.