Agenda - 03-10-20; 8-f - City of Durham’s Teer Quarry Reservoir – Letter of “No Objection” from Orange County Related to the Voluntary Eno River Capacity Use Agreement

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 10, 2020 Action Agenda Item No. 8-f SUBJECT: City of Durham's Teer Quarry Reservoir— Letter of "No Objection" from Orange County Related to the Voluntary Eno River Capacity Use Agreement DEPARTMENT: Planning & Inspections ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACTS: 1. City of Durham Request for "No Objection" Letter Craig Benedict, Planning Director, 2. City of Durham Letters to NCDWR 919-245-2592 (Project Description and Conditions) Christopher Sandt, Staff Engineer, 3. Executed "No Objection" Letters from Partners 919-245-2583 4. Orange County "No Objection" Letter PURPOSE: To approve and authorize the Chair to sign a letter of "No Objection" from Orange County related to the City of Durham's proposed initiative to withdraw excess water from the Eno River for the purposes of filling the City of Durham's Teer Quarry Reservoir in conformance with the existing Voluntary Eno River Capacity Use Agreement and additional guidelines agreed upon by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources (NCDWR). BACKGROUND: Orange County has received a written request from Sydney Miller (Water Resources Manager, City of Durham Department of Water Management) for Orange County to provide a letter of "No Objection" regarding the City's proposal for filling the Teer Quarry Reservoir. The City's written request to Orange County is provided at Attachment 1. In 1988, Orange County became party to the Voluntary Eno River Capacity Use Agreement (Agreement). The Agreement is intended to preserve a minimum flow in the Eno River, even during times of drought, by restricting the amount of water that major users can withdraw from the Eno River. The Agreement is specific to the Upper Eno River basin, starting from the Eno River headwaters in Orange County and ending at its confluence with the Little River in Durham County. The seven (7) water users who are part of the Agreement are the Town of Hillsborough, Orange-Alamance Water System (OAWS), Piedmont Minerals (now Resco Products, Inc), the City of Durham (City), the West Point Grist Mill, large irrigators whose monthly average withdrawals exceed 100,000 gallons per day, and Orange County. Orange County is party to the Agreement because at the time of Agreement execution, Lake Orange was the only public water supply reservoir on the Eno River in Orange County. The Agreement sets forth a release schedule from Lake Orange to supply the seven water users identified in the Agreement with sufficient water based on their allocations and to provide minimum in-stream flows in the Eno River during drought periods. The operating conditions and water withdrawals limits defined within the Agreement are based upon average daily river flows measured at the USGS Eno River at Hillsborough gauge (USGS Gauge #02085000) which is located on the Eno River near downtown Hillsborough.