Agenda - 04-03-2001-10b - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

4 County has developed its own water treatment capacity and has entered into a partnership with Cary and Apex that gives it access to the existing raw water intake facilities on the eastern side of Jordan Lake. OWASA's projected need for water supplies from Jordan Lake has decreased significantly as a consequence of: 1) reductions in projected demand from its newly defined (Utility Service Area Boundary Agreement) service area; and 2) the projected availability of the water storage capacity of the American Stone quarry reservoir. The end result of_a11 of these changes is that it can no longer be assumed that OWASA would or should be the lead agency (on the western side of Jordan Lake) in developing the infrastructure necessary to withdraw, treat and distribute water from Jordan Lake. It is probable that some other jurisdiction such as Durham (which is requesting a 25 mgd allocation in the round 3 allocation process and which has interconnections with OWASA, Hillsborough and Orange-Alamance as well as other water systems to the north and east) maybe the more appropriate lead agency. As OWASA still controls the property that would be most appropriate for locating the necessary infrastructure, it maybe assumed that it would continue to play a key role in the process of utilizing Jordan Lake's water supply capacity - at least on the west side of the lake. For the round 3 allocation process OWASA has amended -reduced -the amount of its Level II allocation request from 10 mgd to 6 mgd. As stated earlier, this reduction reflects OWASA's projections of reduced demand and increase supply capacity from other sources. OWASA has further determined and so indicated that its projected need for a Jordan Lake water supply is temporary, bridging the time gap between a projected demand in excess of its existing supply capacity and the availability of the American Stone Quarry reservoir' storage capacity. However, as long as OWASA maintains its allocation and there is some infrastructure in place allowing either Durham or Chatham County to withdraw and treat OWASA's allocation, OWASA should be able to maintain access to its allocation if or when it is needed. Orange County maybe in real danger of losing its 1.0 mgd allocation, even if the BOCC should decide to pursue maintaining it. The round 3 allocation process is geared toward entities that are actual water providers that operate water treatment and/or water distribution systems. Specifically, the primary criteria for awarding a round 3 allocation involve the ability to demonstrate that: 1) there is differential between projected water supply capacity and projected water demand that can be addressed by having possession of the allocation; and 2) that there are not other reasonable or feasible means of accommodating that differential. In the case of Orange County, there maybe additional requirements of explaining how .the County would gain access to its allocation and convey treated water to the areas and those customers who require it. Lf Orange County is to demonstrate a projected demand for water supplies, a corresponding projected insufficiency of water supply capacity and some means of conveying treated water to customers, it will have to include either or both Hillsborough and Orange-Alamance into its plans. Currently Hillsborough has a water supply in excess of its needs, a plan to expand its reservoir and water supply capacity at need, and contractual arrangements to purchase water on an emergency and non-emergency basis from neighboring water systems (Durham and OWASA). Orange-Alamance currently has a water demand and water supply capacity that are nearly equivalent under the best circumstances (unrestricted withdrawals during periods of high flow in the Eno River) and water purchase agreements with neighboring water supply systems (Mebane/Crraham, Hillsborough and Durham) that are sometimes