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Home My WebLink AboutAgenda - 05-17-2016-13-4 - Information Item - Jordan Lake Allocation Update INFORMATION ITEM BOCC INFORMATION REQUEST OUTLINE Meeting Date: 3/22/2016 Response Date: 4/08/2016 NOTE: This outline is an abridged version of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)Amendment Outline. Many of these requests may evolve into an ordinance change if the BOCC suggests pursuit of the amendment idea. ISSUE: Jordan Lake Allocation Update Responding Department: Planning & Inspections A. AMENDMENT TYPE Map Amendments Land Use Plan: Yesn NoN Maybes Zoning Yesn No Maybes Text Amendments n Comprehensive Plan Text: Yesn NoN Maybes n UDO Text: fUDO General Text Changes Yesn NoN Maybes fUDO Development Standards Yesn No Maybes fUDO Development Approval Yesn NoN Maybes Processes Section(s): Not Applicable at this time B. RATIONALE 1. Purpose/Mission At the March 22, 2016 BOCC meeting, Commissioner Jacobs requested information regarding the ongoing round of Jordan Lake Allocations, specifically as it relates to Raleigh and Wake County municipalities. 2. Analysis Orange County currently has a 1`)/0 allocation of the Jordan Lake Water Supply Pool, which is equivalent to approximately 1 million gallons per day (MGD). The annual cost for this allocation is outlined in the Fiscal Impact portion of this report. Despite the fact that Orange County has no water distribution facilities, this allocation is held to provide water as needed in the future to the City of Durham or the Town of Hillsborough for development in the County's economic development areas, which will be served by their respective utility systems. In conversations with these two municipalities, along with the City of Mebane, they have reported that they are actively planning for their own long term water supply. However, Durham and Hillsborough are not accounting for the areas the County has outlined as economic development areas. Though there will likely be available supply through the municipalities in the near future if these areas develop quickly, it is still prudent to secure and maintain our own water supply for the future of these areas. In addition, the allocation provides redundancy of supply in times of drought, which can be particularly difficult on the water supply in the "headwater" portion of the Piedmont where Orange County is located. 1 At this time, a total 63% of the estimated 100 MGD Water Supply Pool is allocated to six different entities (Cary, Chatham County, Durham, Holly Springs, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, and Orange County). Please note that the Cary allocation serves not only the Town of Cary, but also Apex, Morrisville and a portion of the Research Triangle Park. For more information regarding the Water Supply Pool and the other storage "accounts" into which the total volume of the lake is divided, see the attached sheet. The North Carolina Division of Water Resources (DWR) received allocation requests for water from Jordan Lake in November of 2014, including a request for an additional 0.5% allocation from Orange County (which would bring our total allocation to 1.5%, or approximately 1.5 MGD). The applications for Jordan Lake allocation were supposed to project the applicant's water demands through the year 2045. The allocation requests from the various applicants amounted to 105.9% of the Water Supply Pool (see attached table from a DWR presentation summarizing the requests). As shown on the attached table, the Town of Hillsborough is applying for an allocation in this round, but did not have an allocation previously. DWR staff has been reviewing these applications and comparing them to the combined Neuse-Cape Fear River water supply model to estimate the effects of the increased allocations on Jordan Lake and downstream users. DWR submitted draft recommendations for allocating the Jordan Lake water supply pool to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) Water Allocation Committee (WAC) at its January 2016 meeting. The DWR recommendation was for approval of all the submitted allocation requests, with the exception of Fayetteville and Raleigh. This recommended approval would allocate 91.2% of the Water Supply Pool. The WAC agreed with denying the Fayetteville request but wanted the Raleigh request to be included in the recommended allocation presented to the public for comment. If approved, this would bring the total allocation percentage to 95.9% to cover water demands through the year 2045. The WAC requested public meetings be held by DWR to present the allocation requests and receive feedback. The public meetings were held on March 22, 2016 and March 30, 2016, in Pittsboro and Wilmington, respectively. This public comment period will be open until May 18, 2016. At that point, DWR staff will review the allocation recommendations and make a final recommendation to the WAC in July 2016. A final ruling by the full EMC on the water supply allocations is expected in September 2016. With regards to Wake County municipalities and specifically, Raleigh, there are two allocation requests which have been made. Cary, Apex, Morrisville and Wake County (supplying water to a portion of Research Triangle Park) have combined to request a total allocation of 46.2%, which is an increase of 7.2% from their current combined allocation. The City of Raleigh has requested an allocation of 4.7% in this round. Raleigh does not currently have a Jordan Lake Water Allocation. All of the requests made by the various municipalities, with the exception of the City of Fayetteville, are consistent with the Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan (Plan). This Plan was developed by the Jordan Lake Partnership, a regional collaborative partnership consisting of Apex, Cary, Morrisville, Durham, Holly Springs, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Chatham County, Orange County, Wake County and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA). The Raleigh allocation was 2 not included in the preferred alternative outlined in the Plan for meeting the region's water needs. At the time of the development of the plan, Raleigh was planning on being able to meet all of its water needs with sources other than Jordan Lake. However, as the deadline for allocation application approached, Raleigh decided that it needed to apply for the small allocation as insurance in case some of the alternative sources either were not approved or did not come on line soon enough to cover their water demand at the time. The City has committed to utilizing the allocation, if it is needed, in a manner consistent with the Plan and the infrastructure planning of the other Jordan Lake Partners. To this end, Raleigh has agreed to include a contractual sunset of their allocation in the year 2045. One important conclusion of the Plan is that all Triangle water supply systems, as well as water users downstream of Jordan Lake, will be able to meet their projected water needs for at least the next 50 years. This was determined by using the hydrologic water supply model for the basin and comparing the water demands through the year 2060 to the full range of recorded hydrologic conditions of the past 80+ years. 3. Comprehensive Plan Linkage (i.e. Principles, Goals and Objectives) N/A 4. New Statutes and Rules N/A C. PROCESS 1. TIMEFRAME/MILESTONES/DEADLINES a. BOCC Authorization to Proceed Not Applicable at this time b. Quarterly Public Hearing Not Applicable at this time c. BOCC Updates/Checkpoints Staff will update the BOCC in the upcoming months with the results of the EMC's decision on granting Orange County's Jordan Lake allocation request. 2. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PROGRAM Mission/Scope: a. Planning Board Review: b. Advisory Boards: c. Local Government Review: d. Notice Requirements: e. Outreach 3. FISCAL IMPACT The additional allocation, if granted, will result in additional cost to maintain the water allocation. The current allocation costs the County approximately $2,500 per year. If the allocation request is approved, the annual costs will be approximately $4,000, which has already been projected in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2017. 3 D. AMENDMENT IMPLICATIONS N/A E. SPECIFIC AMENDMENT LANGUAGE Not Applicable at this time Primary Staff Contact: Kevin Lindley, PE Planning and Inspections 919-245-2583 klindley @orangecountync.gov Craig Benedict, Director Planning and Inspections 919-245-2592 cbenedict @orangecountync.gov 4 Jordan Lake Storage y, ;_ ;: -_ Divided into 4 separate accounts � Flood Control -- manage downstream flows during high precipitation events Water Supply -- allocated by EMC Water Quality -- augment downstream flows to meet management target Sediment Storage -- compensation for storage loss due to sedimentation D art Flood Storage Surface A:ea 31.Z)10 Aa ;e El 240 top offloc.I 216-240 ft-msl coax d Fad Flca•3 .^.4.30 •r:e feet Cccztsol Stccage S'_::fa:e r.:ea 13.900 Acres E1ev 210 top of Water Quality 67.38% Water Supply ccnse:vat:cn 45,800 acre-feet !Doti Cons#:vats 202-216 ft-msl cn Stce age Eb 01 et Sediment Storage o C CMG ei va ti on Seclm•r3 II pool below 202 ft-msl Stn:age ft-msl = feet mean sea level Department of Environmental Quality Requested Allocations �' ► - -- - i - V \ i �, 63% water supply Jordan Lake Water Supply Pool storage allocated JLA-4 Applicant Current Requested DWR received Allocation Allocation • 10 applications for Percent Percent • 13 local governments Cary Apex Morrisville RIP 39 46.2 105.9% Total Round 4 Chatham Co North* 13 allocation requests Durham* 10 16.5 Holly Springs 2 2 Hillsborough 0 1 OWASA* 5 5 Orange Co 1 1.5 Pittsboro* 0 6 Raleigh 0 4.7 Fayetteville 0 10 Total Percent 63.0 I 105.9 *Western Intake Partners Department of Environmental Quality NIZ