Orange County NC Website
r1 ?�� <br /> raw water storage in the former American Store Quarry on NC 54 <br /> (site of this request) . The 20 year safe yield of the quarry <br /> is estimated at 0.5 mgd, giving OWASA a total current 20-year <br /> safe yield of 13.5 mgd (with Cane Creek Reservoir) . <br /> Because Orange County is at or near the headwaters of major <br /> drainage basins, the sub-basins from which county suppliers <br /> can draw are small. This results in potential reservoir <br /> yields that are, as best, modest. It is clear that Orange <br /> County does not have the sites with a potential to supply <br /> large amounts of water over long periods of time. Even with <br /> the Cane Creek Reservoir, the County as a whole could face a <br /> demand deficit before the year 2010. This proposal if <br /> approved, will provide approximately 3 billion gallons of <br /> storage capacity - more than five times the capacity of <br /> University Lake. <br /> In 1979, the orange County Board of Commissioners appointed <br /> the Water Resources Task Force, investing in it five charges: <br /> 1) defining water quality goals for Orange County; <br /> 2) reviewing water resources data and compiling an inventory <br /> of existing and potential reservoir sites; <br /> 3) developing, reviewing, and ranking watershed protection <br /> strategies; <br /> 4) preparing the water resources section of the County Land <br /> Use Plan; and, <br /> 5) recommending a long term water resources management plan <br /> for orange County. <br /> The Task Force Report recognized the existing quarry <br /> reservoir, but did not speak to the suitability of former <br /> quarries for water storage. Also, the report did not address <br /> the possibility of expanding the existing quarry operation to <br /> eventually connect with the quarry reservoir as is now being <br /> proposed. <br /> The protection of County water supply watersheds from point <br /> and non-point source pollutants through regulation and land <br /> use controls was a prominent recommendation of the task force <br /> and a focal point of the watershed plan which resulted. <br /> Non-point source pollution generations is a function of land <br /> use. As a watershed becomes increasingly urbanized, the <br /> activities which generate pollutants are increasingly present <br /> in the watershed. Increased impervious surface area, as seen <br /> in more developed areas, alters the relative magnitude of <br /> runoff and infiltration. This can negatively affect the water <br /> quality of streams flowing through urban areas. The petitioner <br /> states that the relocated asphalt plant would be designed and <br /> constructed with sophisticated environmental safeguards, as <br /> recommended by Camp Dresser McKee, OWASAIS watershed <br /> 15 <br />