Agenda - 10-14-2014 - 4 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Orange County currently holds a Level II allocation. This means the water is not expected to be needed within the first five years of the thirty year demand projection. Typically, Level II allocations account for the projected need during the last 10 -15 years of the thirty year water supply plan. The submitted allocation application requests an additional 0.5 MGD Level II allocation. The draft application also provides validation and peer- reviewed justification for the 1.0 MGD, Level II allocation the County currently holds. The draft application was submitted to the State Division of Water Resources on May 1, 2014 (see Attachment B for cover and introduction; full application available at http: / /orangecountync.gov /planning /documents /Orange Co Application 05012014.pdf. County staff had been working with the Jordan Lake Partnership (JLP), a group of representatives from several municipalities located near Jordan Lake, and the Triangle J Council of Governments to develop a cohesive plan which showed all projected water demands for the various entities and how these would be met using current water supplies and interconnections, Jordan Lake allocations, conservation and reuse, along with other future water supplies. The work done to develop a regionally coherent water supply plan which demonstrates how all JLP members will be able to meet water demands through the year 2060 developed into the Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan (Plan). The Plan is a clear demonstration that all the individual partner requests for Jordan Lake Allocation in the current round were arrived at through careful consideration of all members. In other words, the Plan gives regional context to each municipality's Jordan Lake request. The County's application for a Jordan Lake allocation is one piece of a regional "preferred solution" developed by the JLP to meet future water demands. The Executive Summary of the Plan is attached (Attachment C). County staff has received comments back from the Division of Water Resources regarding the County's draft allocation application. These comments will need to be incorporated into the application document and submitted as a final application by close of business on November 14, 2014. According to the Division of Water Resources project schedule, the applications will be forwarded to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) and will be under review for approximately one year. The EMC is expected to approve or disapprove the allocation requests by November 2015. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with submitting the allocation request. If Orange County's request is approved, there will a yearly charge assessed of approximately $2,200 per MGD for a Level II allocation. This would represent an additional $1,100 more than the County is paying per year for its current 1.0 MGD allocation. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board receive this information regarding the Jordan Lake Allocation Application and provide direction as necessary.