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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 7, 2005 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. le) - 1111 <br />SUBJECT: Resolution Modifying Initiation of the Restrictions of the County's Water <br />Conservation Ordinance <br />DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Draft Resolution <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />County Engineer, ext 2303 <br />Letter from the Mayor of Hillsborough TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Letter from the Hillsborough Town Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Engineer/Utilities Director Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />County Water Conservation Ordinance Durham 688-7331 <br /> Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To present for BOCC approval a resolution that will: 1) temporarily modify how the <br />County implements the provisions of the County's water conservation ordinance calling for <br />voluntary and mandatory conservation of water by citizens in northern Orange County who use <br />water provided by the Orange-Alamance and Town of Hillsborough water systems; and 2) <br />initiate a process of discussion and negotiation with Orange-Alamance Water System and Town <br />of Hillsborough as to future operation of the northern Eno water supply with respect to <br />withdrawals and releases from Lake Orange and Hillsborough's West Fork Reservoir. <br />BACKGROUND: In July 1986, the Orange County BOCC enacted the County-wide water <br />conservation ordinance entitled ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE CONSERVATION OF <br />WATER DURING A WATER SHORTAGE, RESTRICTING THE USE OF WATER AND <br />WATER WITHDRAWALS, AND ALLOCATING AUGMENTED STREAMFLOW FROM <br />RESERVOIRS. The provisions of this ordinance were intended to address the periodic and <br />generally seasonal water shortages which have historically affected the water supply capacity of <br />the County's public water supply systems (OWASA, the Town of Hillsborough and the Orange- <br />Alamance Water System). The ordinance initiated water conservation measures by setting <br />forth increasing stringent levels of water withdrawal limitations on the County's public water <br />suppliers as well as by restricting water using activities of the customers of those water <br />suppliers. The severity of the conservation measures and restrictions was tied directly to the <br />quantity of water remaining in the water supply reservoirs in the County, as measured and <br />indicated by lake levels. <br />As a consequence of a significant improvement in OWASA's water supply situation (the <br />development and filling of the Cane Creek Reservoir), the ordinance's initiation of water <br />conservation measures is no longer based on reservoir water levels. Conservation measures <br />are now implemented on the basis of an intricate water supply/demand matrix that has been <br />utilized to restrict water consumption only once - during the drought of 2002. The portion of the