Agenda 02-06-24; 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum - Water Supply Watershed and Stormwater Concerns Related to the Proposed Orange County WASMPBA Amendment

Browse Search

1 ORANGE COUNTY UH CAROLINA MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager Travis Myren, Orange County Deputy Manager FROM: Cy Stober, AICP, Planning & Inspections Director CC: Perdita Holtz, AICP, Deputy Director, Long-Range Planning & Administration DATE: January 19, 2024 SUBJECT: Water Supply Watershed and Stormwater Concerns Related to the Proposed Orange County Water And Sewer Management, Planning, and Boundary Agreement (WASMPBA) Amendment ATTACHMENTS: 1. Water Supply Watershed Map of the Proposed Amendment Area 2. Detail of Affected Properties within Both the Proposed Amendment Area and the University Lake Protected Watershed At its November 15, 2023, meeting the Town of Chapel Hill Council voted to adopt a resolution to amend the Water And Sewer Management, Planning, and Boundary Agreement (WASMPBA) to allow for Orange Water And Sewer Authority (OWASA) utilities along the US 15-501 corridor to the Chatham County boundary (Attachment 1). Per the WASMPBA, all other signatories need to vote on a resolution whether or not to allow for the amendment. The Town of Carrboro considered the matter as a report at their January 9 meeting and are scheduling a vote on the resolution for their February 7 meeting. At the public meetings held as part of informing the public of the proposed amendment and the Chapel Hill meeting where the council voted, the public shared the observation that the Town's water supply watershed (WSW) maps do not match those of the State of North Carolina. The relevant watersheds for this area are the Jordan Lake protected watershed and the University Lake protected watershed. WSW regulations are State laws that are locally enforced and should be, minimally, the delineated watersheds identified by the NC Department of Water Resources (DWR). Orange County has identified the same watershed geographies as the NC DWR for these water supplies and expects that the Town will comply with State laws that apply within the delineated areas. Most of the properties omitted from the Town's University Lake protected WSW maps are the twelve (12) properties east of Smith Level Road. There are four (4) properties east of US 15-501 that have very small areas within the University Lake protected is watershed that are unlikely to be affected by the University Lake watershed regulations. WSWs are classified numerically (using Roman numerals), with lower-numbered watersheds have greater regulation: University Lake is a WSW-ll and Jordan Lake is a WSW-V. NC DWR has established density, impervious cover, and stream buffer standards for water supply protections within the WSWs. The Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County both apply more stringent regulations than the State requirements to the University Lake watershed, but they do differ, with Orange County's being more restrictive for residential density and impervious surface allowances (see table below).