Agenda - 06-02-2004-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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f~ Hillsborough use water from its reservoir to meet its water supply demand in lieu of using its Eno allocation during low flow periods. Under permitting and Capacity Use conditions, Hillsborough may limit its releases from its reservoir to those sufficient to provide for: a) minimum instream flow release requirements; and b) the difference between its raw water demand and the water withdrawal limits specified by the Capacity Use Agreement, It is conceivable that a situation could arise in which the Hillsborough reservoir remains full or nearly full while Lake Orange has been virtually emptied, The 1.8 mgd net yield (after instream flow release) of the reservoir is not large and, absent the water supply from Lake Orange, would not serve to meet Hillsborough's water supply needs far into the future. Under circumstances in which developing its awn reservoir and water supply would have entailed relinquishing all or some part of its Lake Orange water supply, developing the reservoir would not have been an economically feasible undertaking for the Town. Furthermore, the practical effect of a requirement that Hillsborough use the water from its reservoir rather than that from Lake Orange would be that Hillsborough's new water supply would be used to sustain elevated levels of water use by the Orange-Alamance Water System and Piedmont Minerals and instream flow release. This situation would arise because the elimination or reduction of releases for Hillsborough would allow the water level in Lake Orange to remain high for longer periods of time, As the Capacity Use specified instream flow and withdrawal rates for the other users are tied to the water level at Lake Orange, those rates would also remain at higher levels for longer periods, Thus, Hillsborough would be subsidizing those other water demands. Nillsborough Water/Utility Rates Over the past few years, the BOCC has been approached by individuals and groups who are Town of Hillsborough utility customers living outside of the Town boundaries.. These individuals and groups have expressed a deep discontent with Town utility rates and the Town's practice of charging double rates to those utility customers living beyond the corporate boundaries, Furthermore, these individuals and groups have demonstrated that the Town's utility rates are higher than other area utilities. And finally, out-of-town utility customers have argued that there is no economic justification far charging Hillsborough's out-of-town customers - no matter where they live -twice the utility rate for in-town customers, no matter where they live. Several years ago, the Town Board created a citizen's Water and Sewer Advisory Committee to deal with issues raised by Town utility customers. The committee was charged with: 1)investigating/evaluating Town utility issues, practices and policies in light of complaints from the Town's water and sewer utility customers as to high utility rates, unequal rates charged to in-town and out-of-town customers, and stringent water use limitations during dry periods; and 2) recommending (to the Town Board and staff) strategies to address problems and complaints. 6