Agenda - 11-18-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

12 1 The Buckhorn- Mebane area is supplied by the City of Mebane as the area does not have a 2 viable method to access an allocation from Jordan Lake. The City of Mebane has access to a 3 robust supply of water from the reservoir it shares with the City of Graham. In addition, Mebane 4 has interconnections that allow access to the City of Burlington's water system, which has a 5 robust water supply in its own right. The water demand from the Buckhorn- Mebane area is 6 expected to be met from Mebane's water supplies, without the need to supplement with Jordan 7 Lake water. 8 9 Orange County currently holds a Level II allocation. This means the water is not expected to be 10 needed within the first five years of the thirty year demand projection. Typically, Level II 11 allocations account for the projected need during the last 10 -15 years of the thirty year water 12 supply plan. The submitted allocation application requests an additional 0.5 MGD Level II 13 allocation. The draft application also provides validation and peer- reviewed justification for the 14 1.0 MGD, Level II allocation the County currently holds. 15 16 The draft application was submitted to the State Division of Water Resources on May 1, 2014. 17 County staff had been working with the Jordan Lake Partnership (JLP), a group of 18 representatives from several municipalities located near Jordan Lake, and the Triangle J 19 Council of Governments to develop a cohesive plan which showed all projected water demands 20 for the various entities and how these would be met using current water supplies and 21 interconnections, Jordan Lake allocations, conservation and reuse, along with other future 22 water supplies. The work done to develop a regionally coherent water supply plan which 23 demonstrates how all JLP members will be able to meet water demands through the year 2060 24 developed into the Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan (Plan). 25 26 The Plan is a clear demonstration that all of the individual partner requests for Jordan Lake 27 allocations in the current round were arrived at through careful consideration of all members. In 28 other words, the Plan gives regional context to each municipality's Jordan Lake request. The 29 County's application for a Jordan Lake allocation is one piece of a regional "preferred solution" 30 developed by the JLP to meet future water demands. 31 32 County staff has received comments back from the Division of Water Resources regarding the 33 County's draft allocation application. These comments will need to be incorporated into the 34 application document and submitted as a final application by close of business on November 35 14, 2014. According to the Division of Water Resources project schedule, the applications will 36 be forwarded to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) and will be under review 37 for approximately one year. The EMC is expected to approve or disapprove the allocation 38 requests by November 2015. 39 40 Craig Benedict said there are existing draws from Jordan Lake, but the state indicated 41 that there was a planned expansion, and partners were encouraged to ask for their share of the 42 expansion. He said the expansion will lead to another 95 million gallons per day, and the 43 County is only asking for 0.5 million gallons of this. 44 Chair Jacob asked if the lake itself is being expanded, or just the allocation of supply. 45 Craig Benedict said this is just an expansion of the supply, as there are different layers 46 of water that can be drawn from. 47 Kevin Lindley said this round of allocation requests is set up for demand through 2045. 48 He said through 2045, all of the projected partners requesting allocation would take 91 -92 49 percent of the available supply. He said 100 percent would be allocated through 2060, but all of 50 the demands could be met.