Agenda - 05-17-2016-13-4 - Information Item - Jordan Lake Allocation Update

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At this time, a total 63% of the estimated 100 MGD Water Supply Pool is allocated to six different entities (Cary, Chatham County, Durham, Holly Springs, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, and Orange County). Please note that the Cary allocation serves not only the Town of Cary, but also Apex, Morrisville and a portion of the Research Triangle Park. For more information regarding the Water Supply Pool and the other storage "accounts" into which the total volume of the lake is divided, see the attached sheet. The North Carolina Division of Water Resources (DWR) received allocation requests for water from Jordan Lake in November of 2014, including a request for an additional 0.5% allocation from Orange County (which would bring our total allocation to 1.5%, or approximately 1.5 MGD). The applications for Jordan Lake allocation were supposed to project the applicant's water demands through the year 2045. The allocation requests from the various applicants amounted to 105.9% of the Water Supply Pool (see attached table from a DWR presentation summarizing the requests). As shown on the attached table, the Town of Hillsborough is applying for an allocation in this round, but did not have an allocation previously. DWR staff has been reviewing these applications and comparing them to the combined Neuse-Cape Fear River water supply model to estimate the effects of the increased allocations on Jordan Lake and downstream users. DWR submitted draft recommendations for allocating the Jordan Lake water supply pool to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) Water Allocation Committee (WAC) at its January 2016 meeting. The DWR recommendation was for approval of all the submitted allocation requests, with the exception of Fayetteville and Raleigh. This recommended approval would allocate 91.2% of the Water Supply Pool. The WAC agreed with denying the Fayetteville request but wanted the Raleigh request to be included in the recommended allocation presented to the public for comment. If approved, this would bring the total allocation percentage to 95.9% to cover water demands through the year 2045. The WAC requested public meetings be held by DWR to present the allocation requests and receive feedback. The public meetings were held on March 22, 2016 and March 30, 2016, in Pittsboro and Wilmington, respectively. This public comment period will be open until May 18, 2016. At that point, DWR staff will review the allocation recommendations and make a final recommendation to the WAC in July 2016. A final ruling by the full EMC on the water supply allocations is expected in September 2016. With regards to Wake County municipalities and specifically, Raleigh, there are two allocation requests which have been made. Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Wake County (supplying water to a portion of Research Triangle Park) have combined to request a total allocation of 46.2%, which is an increase of 7.2% from their current combined allocation. The City of Raleigh has requested an allocation of 4.7% in this round. Raleigh does not currently have a Jordan Lake Water Allocation. All of the requests made by the various municipalities, with the exception of the City of Fayetteville, are consistent with the Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan (Plan). This Plan was developed by the Jordan Lake Partnership, a regional collaborative partnership consisting of Apex, Cary, Morrisville, Durham, Holly Springs, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Chatham County, Orange County, Wake County and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA). The Raleigh allocation was 2