Agenda - 01-27-2009 - 2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 The draft MOU (attached) would create a Jordan Lake Regional Water Supply Partnership that: • Has a goal of "collaboratively defining Jordan Lake's role in a long-term sustainable and secure regional water supply for the Research Triangle Region;" • "Will operate under the principles of regional collaboration, sustainable water supply, environmental stewardship, mutual and collective benefit, proportional representation, and financial stability;" • Creates a Partnership Management Team to provide overall guidance for activities under the MOU, consisting of the Manager or designee of each signatory, to be chaired by the Durham City Manager or designee; and • Designates the City of Durham as the lead agency in the partnership effort, acting as the fiscal and contracting agent for the Partnership, with advice of the Partnership Management team. Each signatory to the MOU would pay a share of the costs on one of two levels (based on number of water service connections). Orange County, if it chooses to sign, would be a Level II member with a $2,500 annual fee. The primary anticipated functions of the Partnership are to engage in three activities or Additional Projects (Item 5 of the MOU). It is notable that each of the three activities is at the discretion of the partner and is optional. These are: 1. Regional Water Supply Planning Project — To develop a regional water supply plan for Jordan Lake including the gathering of information from Jordan Lake water allocation holders on subjects such as water demand, conservation, supply sources and future needs. 2. Jordan Lake Allocation Requests — Jointly prepared and coordinated allocation requests to the NC Environmental Management Commission for allocations (or increased allocations) from Jordan Lake's water supply. This may involve a common letter request and/or specifically tailored requests from each partner related to their needs. However, the requests would need to be consistent with the Water Supply Plan. 3. Jordan Lake Western Intake Preliminary Planning Project — Study of the potential capacity and associated intake and water supply facilities needed to access increased water supply. This will include the preliminary engineering and cost information to support allocation increases and would be limited to members of the Partnership interested in the joint capital project investment. Engineering and work beyond the preliminary stage would require a separate agreement. The draft MOU is a five-year agreement to terminate June 30, 2014, and may be terminated or extended by mutual agreement. Signatories may withdraw from the agreement with 30 days written notice (any residual financial commitments must be satisfied). In the attached Background and Key Issues document, staff notes the history and background of the Partnership effort and identifies several key issues the Board may wish to consider regarding participation. As noted, while the final iteration of the MOU does not include the earlier goal language related to growth management in its operational clauses, it does reference sustainable use of the resource. The Water Supply Plan component of the Partnership may be a vehicle to ensure the linkage to growth management, water conservation and sustainable use of the resource continues to be a key part of the effort. In this sense, the County may wish to