County Commissioner Bill Segal wants more answers about what Orange's leaders plan to do about its water needs.

The Democrat recently sent a memo to Mayor Rich Crotty urging the county to re-visit a permit its seeking to drain surface water from canals around lakes Hart and Mary Jane.

When it came up for a last-minute vote in March, Segal agreed with Crotty's top staff, who said the county needed to act fast and set aside a $1million war chest to legally fight for the permit. Now he's not sure if that's the best way to go.

Two other commissioners opposed it at the time, Teresa Jacobs and Linda Stewart, and both for similar reasons.

But in an April 30 memo to Crotty, Segal said elected leaders need to take another look at that issue. And it needs to be done within a broader framework that looks at longer term needs.

"The Board has never had such a discussion," Segal wrote to the mayor.

No word yet on when that would happen, a Crotty spokesman said today.