Jordan Lake Water Supply Allocation - Public Hearing Notice

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Jordan Lake Water Supply Storage Allocation:
Round Three
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) will hold a public hearing to
receive comments on the Division of Water Resources’ recommendations for Round Three of Jordan
Lake water supply storage allocation. This public hearing will start at 7:00 PM on March 18, 2002 at 512
N. Salisbury Street, Ground Floor Hearing Room, Archdale Building, Raleigh. In addition, staff will be
available to answer questions from 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM, prior to the hearing. The public may inspect the
staff’s recommendation report during normal business hours at the offices of the Division of Water
Resources, 512 N. Salisbury Street, Room 1106, Archdale Building, Raleigh. This document may also be
viewed at the Division’s web site: http://www.ncwater.org.
The purpose of this announcement is to encourage those interested in these matters to provide comments.
You may attend the public hearings and make relevant oral comments and/or submit written comments,
data, or other relevant information. We request that you bring a written version of your oral comments to
the hearing. The hearing officers may limit the length of oral presentations if many people want to speak.
If you are unable to attend, written comments can be mailed to Sydney Miller, Division of Water
Resources, DENR, 1611 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1611. Comments must be received
before 5:00 PM, March 22, 2002. Comments may also be submitted electronically to
[e-mail].
The State of North Carolina has purchased the use of the entire water supply storage in B. Everett Jordan
Lake. Under GS 143-354(a)(11) the State can assign this storage to any local government demonstrating a
need for water supply storage. Administrative rule T15A: 02G.0500 describes the specific procedures to
be used when allocating the Jordan Lake water supply storage. The two main criteria for Jordan Lake
water supply allocations are future water needs and availability of alternative water supplies.
Initial allocations of water supply from Jordan Lake were made in 1988. The State completed the second
round of allocations in July 2001. Eleven communities have requested new or additional allocations from
Jordan Lake in this third round. The Division of Water Resources’ allocation recommendations are
illustrated in Table 1 on the following page.
Some of the key features of these recommended water supply storage allocations are:
· All allocation applicants will have their projected 2030 water needs met either from Jordan Lake or
from their existing water supply sources.
· These recommendations leave 39 percent of the water supply pool unallocated and available to meet
future water needs. Of the 50 percent of the Lake’s total water supply yield that may be allocated for
use outside of the Lake’s watershed under current policy, at least 10 mgd remains unallocated and
available for future water needs.
· Based on a projection of all Basin water supply needs to 2050, the recommended allocations will not
hinder any community’s ability to meet its 2050 water needs.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
March 18, 2002, 7:00 PM
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· Applicants requested allocations to meet 2050 needs, plus a 20 percent margin. The Division of Water
Resources recommended allocations to meet only 2030 needs, as specified in the administrative rule
for Jordan Lake water supply storage allocations.
· We based our recommended allocations on the water use projections developed by each applicant
with one exception. We adjusted Chatham County’s assumed per capita water use rate to bring it
more in line with the rates used by other applicants.
· No additional interbasin transfer certificates are required for the recommended allocations.
· The US Congress authorized one-third of the Jordan Lake conservation pool to be used for water
supply and two-thirds for downstream flow augmentation. Water supply storage allocations come
from the water supply pool and do not affect the project’s ability to meet downstream flow targets.
Table 1. Jordan Lake Water Supply Storage Allocations for Round Three (a)
Applicant
Current
Total
Allocation
(mgd)
Requested
Total
Allocation
(mgd)
Recommended
Total
Allocation
(mgd)
Interbasin Transfer
Certification
Required
Chatham County 6.0 10.5 6.0 No
City of Durham 0 20.0 10.0 No
City of Fayetteville 0 not specified 0 No
City of Sanford 0 28.0 0 No
Harnett County 0 18.0 0 No
Town of Holly Springs 2.0 16.0 0 No
OWASA 10.0 5.0 5.0 No
Orange County 1.0 1.0 1.0 No
Towns of Cary and Apex 21.0 44.0 32.0 No
Town of Morrisville 2.5 5.0 3.5 No
Wake County/
Research Triangle Park 1.5 5.5 3.5 No
Total 44.0 153.0 61.0
(a)Allocations obtained are actually a percentage of the water supply storage in Jordan Lake.
However, since all (100 percent) of the water supply storage has an estimated safe yield of
100 mgd, allocations are conveniently expressed here in terms of mgd. For example, a 6.0
mgd allocation actually represents an allocation of 6.0 percent of Jordan Lake’s water supply
storage.
Level II allocation holders are reserving the right to use Jordan Lake water in the future and pay only a
proportional amount of the interest and operating costs associated with the water supply storage
component of Jordan Lake. Level I allocation holders have present rights to use Jordan Lake water and
are required to repay a proportional share of the capital cost of the project, as well as the interest and
operating costs paid by Level II allocation holders. Because Level II allocation holders have only paid to
reserve water supply storage for future use and have not paid any capital costs, the Division of Water
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Resources does not recommend reimbursement of past Level II allocation payments when Level II
allocations are reduced in accordance with the allocation holders’ changes in plans or growth rates.
Therefore, we recommend no reimbursement of payments made by OWASA or Holly Springs.
The EMC is considering adding the following condition to Jordan Lake allocations:
If an extreme drought or a water supply emergency caused by water contamination or infrastructure
damage threatens the ability of a public water supply system to meet the public health and safety needs of
its customers, the Secretary of DENR can make emergency allocations or reallocations of the water
supply storage at Jordan Lake to respond to these emergencies. These emergency allocations or
reallocations are limited to 30 days and may be renewed for one additional 30 day period. Before taking
such an action, the Secretary shall consult with affected parties and shall specify conditions to protect all
affected water users.
The EMC may consider allocations of different amounts and to different recipients than those
recommended by the Division of Water Resources. The EMC invites comments on the recommended
allocations, on the recommended amounts as compared with the requested amounts, and on the
aforementioned allocation condition.
For more information, visit our project website at:
http://www.ncwater.org/Permits_and_Registration/Jordan_Lake_Water_Supply_Allocation/. You may
also contact Sydney Miller in the Division of Water Resources at 919-715-3044, or email:
[e-mail].