Agenda - 02-16-2021; 4-b - OWASA Annual Update Presentation

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OWASA Quarterly Report 4 January 27, 2021 Page 3 A similar presentation to the Orange County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for February 16. The work to date on the Long-Range Water Supply Plan indicates that OWASA has enough water for the next few decades. However, we are vulnerable during extended or back-to-back droughts. While OWASA plans to continue to use its local water supplies and encourage conservation, OWASA's Board recently acted to ensure there are no policy restrictions limiting OWASA's use of our Jordan Lake allocation. There is no way at this time, however, to guarantee accessing that allocation, particularly in a time of drought. We are continuing to solicit community feedback before bringing an update to the OWASA Board of Directors in March. COVID-19 Wastewater Testing: OWASA is continuing to support COVID-19 research by providing wastewater samples to track the virus. OWASA began providing weekly wastewater samples to researchers with the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory in mid-July. The goal of this phase of the project, which ended in December, was to perfect the analytical methods and to contribute valuable information to the State of North Carolina on the presence and persistence of COVID-19. A full report is under development and will be available by the end of January; we will share this report with our Board of Directors and local government partners as we receive it. Meanwhile,North Carolina is one of eight states participating in the National Wastewater Surveillance System being initiated by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. OWASA was contacted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in December to participate in this national surveillance monitoring. Youth Water Academy: OWASA was thrilled to be able to host the third-annual Youth Water Academy this year in a virtual setting. Twelve water-conscious scholars from local high schools took part in the program this fall. The course covered five weeks and included virtual tours of OWASA's Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants, a career panel, a"choose your own adventure" game where they made choices to repair a broken water line, and a capstone project focusing on a water-related subject of their choice. One new aspect of this year's Youth Water Academy included a scavenger hunt where participants could identify OWASA infrastructure in the community or create water-related educational content. We look forward to hosting the next Youth Water Academy in the Fall of 2021.