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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2 The Agreement allows the City to withdraw up to five million gallons per day (5 MGD) from the Eno River in Durham County when average daily river flows are above 30 cubic feet per second from March through May, and when average daily river flows are above 10 cubic feet per second during other times of the year - measured at the USGS Eno River Near Durham gauge (USGS Gauge #02085070). The Agreement does not define Eno River flow conditions for City water withdrawals greater than 5 MGD. An electronic copy of the Agreement can be found at: http://www.ncwater.org/Permits and Registration/Capacity Use/Eno River Management/docs/ water management plan.pdf Teer Quarry Reservoir: The City owns and operates the Teer Quarry Reservoir (Quarry), a public water supply storage reservoir located along the Eno River in Durham County approximately 0.80 miles to the east of US-501 and approximately 15 miles downriver from the USGS Eno River at Hillsborough gauge (USGS Gauge #02085000). The Quarry is planned to become an additional non-emergency source of water for the City once it has been appropriately classified for drinking water purposes and approved by the North Carolina Public Water Supply Section. Attachment 2 provides a summary of City letters to NCDWR describing the proposed Quarry project and the additional guidelines agreed upon by NCDWR, as well as a map showing the location of the Quarry in Durham County. The City has coordinated with NCDWR to propose withdrawals of raw water from the Eno River in excess of 5 MGD for the purposes of filling the Quarry. The Agreement allows public water supply systems to withdraw additional water from the Eno River during periods of higher flow "provided that they have long-term contracts for obtaining an equal amount of water from outside the basin when the flow in the Eno River drops" (Page 4 of the Agreement). The City has a Jordan Lake water supply allocation of 16.5 percent, which is equal to 2,462 million gallons of water supply storage (estimated to reliably yield 16.5 million gallons per day), satisfying that requirement in the Agreement. The City's proposed withdrawals of raw water from the Eno River in excess of 5 MGD would occur in Durham County only when Eno River flows as measured at the USGS Eno River near Durham gauge (USGS Gauge #02085070) exceed the annual median river flow of 49 cubic feet per second. The proposed raw water withdrawals would be over 15 miles downstream from the USGS Eno River at Hillsborough gauge (USGS Gauge #02085000). Hydrologic modeling efforts by the City suggest that the agreed-upon conditions for the City to fill the Quarry with water withdrawn from the Eno River will have no impact whatsoever on the parties of the Agreement. The Quarry project has been discussed in detail by the seven water users identified in the Agreement and no users have expressed concerns with the project. Attachment 3 includes copies of executed "No Objection" letters from OAWS, Resco Products, Inc., and the Town of Hillsborough. No Objection from Orange County: Orange County staff has no objection to the City's intent to withdraw excess water from the Eno River in Durham County for the purposes of filling the Teer Quarry Reservoir during periods of high flows in the Eno River, as defined within the Agreement and in conformance with the additional guidelines agreed upon by NCDWR. Orange County staff does not anticipate that the City's project will negatively impact the stream ecology of the Upper Eno River basin or the seven water users identified in the Agreement. Attachment 4 is a copy of the proposed Orange County "No Objection" letter, for signature by the Board Chair and distribution to the City.