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DpGI�7 <br />III. Water sale and other agreements with other jurisdictions. <br />Background <br />As noted above, OWASA customers have experienced significant <br />increases in rates since creation of the Authority. In effect, the <br />community which provided revenues for development of the water <br />utility under University ownership is paying again for the water <br />system purchased from the University in 1977 as well as for the <br />Cane Creek reservoir and other system improvements such as <br />expanding the water and wastewater treatment plants. <br />The process of acquiring properties and applying for permits for <br />the Cane Creek reservoir as the major long -term water supply was a <br />long and expensive struggle during which citizens endured periodic <br />water shortages. <br />As Council Members have stated in the past, the Cane Creek <br />reservoir and water supply is a precious asset which should be <br />preserved for the long -term use of the communities which have and <br />are paying for it. <br />If the present concepts of the Joint Planning Land Use Plan remain <br />in use, the Cane Creek reservoir along with the University Lake <br />watershed and stone quarry storage supplies should be adequate to <br />serve the Chapel Hill - Carrboro urban services area at full <br />development based on current land use plans. <br />The capacity of Cane Creek and other supply sources also implies <br />that our community may not be forced to use water from the B. <br />Everette Jordan Reservoir when the present supply sources are fully <br />used. Using water from the Jordan Reservoir would raise concerns <br />based on the number of untreated or inadequately wastewater <br />discharges to the Haw River and other tributaries of the reservoir. <br />In the future, annexation and utility service area boundary <br />agreements) involving OWASA, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the Town of <br />Hillsborough would be useful and appropriate to complement the <br />present Joint Planning Agreement and Rural Buffer concept. <br />Hillsborough is not a party to the Joint Planning Agreement for the <br />southeast part of the County, although Hillsborough has separate <br />Cooperative Planning arrangements with Orange County. <br />A service area agreement among the local governments and utility <br />systems in Orange County might help resolve a longstanding <br />difference between Hillsborough and OWASA regarding future service <br />from the part of OWASA's water transmission line which extends <br />north of the Rural Buffer to Hillsborough. <br />17 <br />