Agenda - 08-29-2002 - Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

~:Jt3? 1 ~f ~1biJL 11: ~l - t y;~y~441~yb ~ u~t t~u_ ~~ Hills gh T4W~V OF HILI.SBQROrIG~i' - STAFF INTERESTS ~~~ Regarding Orange Couxty Area Drought Aug~cst z4, ~©OZ PAGE 82 ~acksruglad oA tl~e West Fork (Enol Reservoir: The Town's zeservair was designed and permitted as a supplemental water source #'or the of Hillsborough water system (i.e., to provide far the Town's water needs av+cr au.d abav9e the allocation Hillsborough is permitted via the Capacity U'se Agreement. Hillsbomugl~ voters approved a bated referendum in 1993 to fxnazace the canstnrctiam at' the Nest Fark Rs"seavoir, Sub®equeritly, customers an the Town's system (bath in-town amd out-of--fawn) have been paying $723,200 in aanrxal debt service payments, in addition to funding in excess of X500,000 in cash for the project The annual debt service payments plane for this project make up approximately 25% of the annual water-related expezaditures in the FY03 Budget and spproximatcly I5% of the entire Water & Sewer Fund Budget. As a result, Hillsborough customers (especially those who are out-off town austamers) are paying some of the highest water rates in the state. The purpose of constructing the West Fark Reservoir was to 1) eliminate Hillsbarougb,'s deperXdency op its neighbors (e.g., Durham and OWASA) to provide water to rrxeet peak demands, 2} reduce the frequency and severity of water restrictions due to law flow conditions ~ the Eno, and 3) allow the Town to accamrnadate reasonable amounts of growth in the future sa as to strengthen Hillsboarough's local economy and diversify its tax base. Ia addition, newer customers axe necessary to provide same "economies of scale" so as to help share the financial burden regarding the many fixed costs associated with operaf~g a water system. While nirt required and rat requested to da sa, the Town started releasing additional water from the West Fark Reservoir during Stage 4 so as to help slow the "drop" in Lake Change anal to delay entry into more seveze restriction stages (i.e,, Stage S and likely Stage 6}. While the Town was/is using about 1.0 - 1.1 MGD; it started releasing 1.0 MGD im addition to the mi~aimal required in-stream flow, increased the release to 1.51+viGD for a period, and is now releasing 1.1 MGD ar the equivalent of t1~e Town's average daily usage. Hillsbomugla; has either been releasing an amount equal to (ar in excess) a£' the water it has been using for about three (3) weeks. So, Hillsborough has essarttially rat used any water #'rom Lake Prange i,n thz~ee weeks, even though it's permitted up to a x.1 1VIGD withdrawl during Stage 5. The Town did net make the additional releases with the intention of requesting any financial compensation from the other entities that are receiving any indirectldirect benefit from flue action. The additional releases from Hillsborough have delayed what appears to be a likely entry iota Stage 6, by helping to slow the water level drop in Lake Orange. While theare are benefits far Hiilsbaraugh, this has also benefited the Piedmont Minerals and Grange-Alamance systccns by delaying tine entry iota Stage 5 where they had to reduce their withdrawls from the Eno. Delaying the entry into Stage 6 7~ 101 East Orange Street • P.O. Box 4P9 • Hillsborough, North Carolina P7878 919-73E-I27p • Fuac 919-644.239D