Report on Chatham County's Request to Access its Jordan Lake Water Allocation through OWASA's Jordan Lake Property and Approved Intake Location

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Discussion Paper--Jordan Lake Options for OWASA December 18, 1998 Page 2 What stake does OWASA already have in Jordan Lake? Since 1988, OWASA has held a Level II (long term) allocation of 10 percent of Jordan Lake's water supply storage capacity. This is expected to support an average withdrawal of 10 million gallons per day (mgd). OWASA makes an annual payment of approximately$19,000 to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources for this allocation. Additionally,OWASA owns 125 acres of land adjacent to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property on the western side of Jordan Lake, south of Highway 64(Attachment 2). OWASA purchased 88 acres in 1989 and 37 acres in 1995 for a total cost of $550,000. The Corps' amended Jordan Lake Master Plan designates an offshore intake site adjacent to this area, per recommendations of an engineering study conducted for OWASA in 1991 at a cost of $35,000. It is important to note that no regulatory action has been taken to grant OWASA or any other entity the right to use this site for water withdrawal purposes. OWASA currently has a$60,000 contract with NCDOT to install a casement under U.S. 64 in the vicinity of Mt. Gilead Church Road as part of the U.S. 64 improvement project. This will allow the installation of a future water transmission line without the major expense of boring or tunneling under the highway. Similar arrangements are planned as NCDOT improves Highway 15-501. What do we know about Jordan Lake's water quality? Data available from the past 10 years indicate that water quality in Jordan Lake is good and nearly indistinguishable in quality from other Triangle area water supply reservoirs, except in the northernmost section upstream of S.R.1008,where it is highly enriched with nutrients. Comprehensive watershed/water quality studies exist for other important reservoirs in the Triangle region, but no such study has been conducted for Jordan Lake. Consequently,there is no credible technical basis for estimating the water quality impacts of development projects or other activities proposed near Jordan Lake or in the watershed: Since 1988, OWASA has participated in the Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Program,which has several sampling sites in Jordan Lake and expects to contribute funds and staff support to the Jordan Lake watershed study proposed by the Triangle J Council of Governments. Additionally, OWASA plans to participate in special efforts to develop and calibrate a nutrient response model in order to determine whether nitrogen removal is warranted at wastewater treatment plants upstream of Jordan Lake. What facilities would OWASA need to withdraw water from Jordan Lake? Three basic systems would be needed to withdraw water from Jordan Lake and treat it at the OWASA's Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant(WTP) in Carrboro: (1) intake system, (2)two pumping stations, and(3) a transmission pipeline. Intake facilities would be located to provide water in sufficient quantities, even during low lake levels. The intake must draw from multiple levels in the lake in order to obtain the highest quality water at any given time.