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Agenda - 08-29-2002 - 1
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Agenda - 08-29-2002 - 1
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7/18/2017 2:08:22 PM
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BOCC
Date
8/29/2002
Meeting Type
Work Session
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Agenda
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Minutes - 20020829
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\Board of County Commissioners\Minutes - Approved\2000's\2002
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rviEmoRANDurvi <br /> TO County Commissioners <br /> COPIES John Link, County Manager <br /> Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager <br /> FROM Paul Thames,PE, County Engineer <br /> DATE: August 23, 2002 <br /> SUBJECT: Drought and drought response related activities in Orange County <br /> As per the request of the BOCC,the following information is provided relative to the drought currently <br /> affecting Orange County as well as the central portions of North and South Carolina, Geor u`a and <br /> Virginia). <br /> Orange County and central North Carolina are in the fourth year of below normal rainfall (drou. t) <br /> conditions. The impact of the below normal rainfall finally became readily noticeable to the general <br /> public in the spring of 2002 when local surface water supply reservoirs failed to completely refill over <br /> the winter or—as in the case of Lake Orange—refilled very late in the season. Lake Orange,which <br /> normally refills by mid to late January did not completely fill until mid April. OWASA's Cane Creek <br /> reservoir and Durham's reservoir never completely refilled. Other indicators of the effects of the <br /> drought are: 1)record low stream flows for the time of year(80%percent of streams have had less than <br /> 10%of normal seasonal stream flow); and 2)water levels measured at well over 50%of USGS <br /> groundwater level monitoring wells in central North Carolina are either lower than the previous record <br /> low levels or are approaching record low levels. The outlook for the end of the drought or the lessening <br /> of drought conditions is unclear. While some meteorolo tists have hypothesized that the area is in the <br /> fourth year of a seven-year thought cycle, others predict a near-term(winter of 2002)return to slightly <br /> wetter than normal weather conditions as a result of a mild El Nino climatic condition. However,if <br /> area's weather pattern follows the usual wet/dry climatic conditions for the remainder of 2002, Orange <br /> County can expect even drier weather in the sort term (the area's driest part of the year runs from mid <br /> September to mid-November). In the typical years, relief from seasonal dry conditions comes with the <br /> winter rains begin at some point between late November and mid-January. Historically, Orange County <br /> has occasionally seen some relief during the very dry season by way of significant rainfall quantities <br /> generated by hurricanes,tropical depressions and nor'easters. <br /> The water supply situation for the portion of central Orange County(Hillsborough and Efland area) that <br /> depends on water from the Eno River has been much worse than usual in some ways and better in others. <br /> That is, conditions involving normal instream flow and remaining water storage in Lake Orange have <br /> been worse than have been experienced since the development of Lake Orange in the early 1970's. <br /> Initiation of water releases from Lake Orange and the implementation of withdrawal and customer use <br /> restrictions associated with the County's (and Town of Hillsborough) drought ordinance and the Eno <br /> River Capacity Use Agreement began approximately ten weeks earlier than normal. Accordingly,the <br /> water level in Lake Orange is at a historic low(for any time of year). This, in turn,means that water <br />
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