Orange County NC Website
George Lucier said that there are about 38 million gallons per day that have not been <br /> allocated out of Jordan Lake. He thinks that the allocation from Jordan Lake will only happen if <br /> it is a regional intake with agreement among the major parties. <br /> Mayor Foy asked what happens if Greensboro gets an allocation. Ed Kerwin said that he <br /> does not believe that Jordan Lake is in Greensboro's plans. The key players are the City of <br /> Durham, Chatham County, and OWASA or Orange County. <br /> Kevin Foy said that he keeps hearing of conflicting verbiage about Greensboro and <br /> Raleigh wanting the water, but there are only two sites. He does not know how this will work. <br /> George Lucier said that having an intake and plan on the west side of the lake would <br /> simplify things for Chatham County. There will have to be decisions about this soon. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that some concerns were raised about Durham's participation and <br /> Mayor Bill Bell was in attendance for that reason. <br /> Bill Strom said that he has heard different scenarios with OWASA's allocation. He asked if <br /> OWASA does not use its 5 million gallon allocation, would it lose the allocation. Ed Kerwin said <br /> that he does not know. He said that the State was clear that there will only be one west intake <br /> on the lake and it needs to be through joint arrangement. He said that he does not believe that <br /> OWASA needs Jordan Lake for daily demands, but more as a backup supply. <br /> Bill Strom said that it is ironic and disturbing that, as good conservers, it puts OWASA at <br /> risk of losing its 5 million gallon allocation. He said that something is wrong if their conservation <br /> and land use planning is causing them to lose their "insurance policy" of the 5 million gallon <br /> allocation. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that when this issue was first raised, he understood that as long as <br /> Orange County was a part of this facilitation, it was perceived that they would have access to <br /> this allocation. The idea is that there is a continuum of possibilities. He agreed with Bill Strom <br /> that there should be some type of strategy so that Orange County is not totally excluded from <br /> yet another water supply and it is protecting it for the benefit of others. <br /> Mayor Chilton said that his concern about all of this is that OWASA has taken a good look <br /> at its future water usage. He asked if anyone knew how long Jordan Lake would sustain the <br /> demands of the Triangle municipal governments in meeting the water supply demands in the <br /> future. He said that it does not seem likely to him that the additional water supply in Jordan <br /> Lake will sustain the Triangle's demand for water for anything like the length of time for which <br /> OWASA has planned for water in the future. He said that once local governments have tapped <br /> into Jordan Lake and are drawing water out daily, there will not be any additional options for <br /> more water in the future. He does not want to mistake Jordan Lake in the region for a long-term <br /> solution to the water supply. He thinks that there is a water consumption problem and not a <br /> water supply problem. He said that, in looking at OWASA's own projections, there will not be a <br /> serious water problem for about 20 years, and this only depends on how fast the service area <br /> grows. If the area grows less rapidly and conserves more, then OWASA might not have to tap <br /> into Jordan Lake at all. He wants to commit to avoid having to go to Jordan Lake except for an <br /> extreme emergency. <br /> Dan Coleman said that he is hearing that Jordan Lake should not be a permanent part of <br /> the regular water diet. He said that he would like to suggest the possibility to be clearer in the <br /> intentions to not have even the emergency access to the lake. He said that the middle of a <br /> drought might be a really good time to do growth planning. <br /> Jim Ward asked Ed Kerwin about OWASA's confidence level and Ed Kerwin said that a lot <br /> of experts believe that the climate change in the southeast is that there will be more <br /> precipitation, but there have been two record droughts in the last five years. He said that he is a <br /> bit uneasy about these predictions and OWASA will be revisiting its water planning and will align <br /> its tools with the government entity tools. <br /> Jacqueline Gist said that Mayor Chilton's comments were very well thought out and on <br /> target. She wants to know how these comments interface with what OWASA is doing. <br />