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 4 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources have expressed the strong desire to have only one intake system located on the west side of Jordan Lake. Limiting construction to one facility would minimize environmental and community disruptions and provide substantial economies of scale. The only known disadvantage to OWASA in proceeding with a joint intake system would be the expenditure of capital funds in advance of OWASA's actual need for the facility. Depending on the scale, cost,and financing method for project, it is possible that present value costs to OWASA should be lower under this near term collaborative scenario than if OWASA deferred its investment to the future. Cooperation on a joint pumping and transmission system would provide many of the same benefits noted above, but because these facilities must be carefully tailored to the specific needs of each user,they are less accurately estimated in advance than the more generic requirements for an intake system. OWASA would incur significant additional expenses before such facilities were needed if it participated with Chatham County in a joint project to provide pumping and transmission facilities in addition to an intake system. If OWASA and Chatham County cooperate on a joint intake system, OWASA believes that it could make a portion of its Jordan Lake property available for Chatham County to use in pumping raw water to its treatment plant. What other utilities might share a cooperative interest in a regional intake system? Orange County, Durham, and possibly Greensboro might have a future interest in Jordan Lake water. Cary and Apex might be interested in supporting an intake structure on the western side of Jordan Lake with sufficient capacity to supply their own needs during an emergency or shutdown of their existing intake on the eastern side of the lake. These possibilities and others will be evaluated through OWASA's Comprehensive Water and Sewer Master Plan Project now underway. Are there any other collaborative opportunities to consider? There can be substantial local and regional benefits if OWASA, Chatham County,and others participate in a Jordan Lake watershed study. Other regional benefits beyond OWASA's purview might be facilitated through OWASA's participation with Chatham County on an intake system. As mentioned on previous occasions, it would be highly desirable to OWASA and its customers if the zoning and development requirements in Chatham County's portion of the University Lake watershed were consistent with rules in place in Orange County's and Carrboro's jurisdictions. At some time in the future OWASA will require Chatham County's approval to construct the infrastructure needed to transmit water from Jordan Lake to OWASA's facilities in Orange County.