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Council flips on OWASA’s Jordan Lake plan

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Staff

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL — The last time the Chapel Hill Town Council took a vote on a request by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to modify a key governing agreement for its boundaries and water-supply plans, it was late, and the debate was abbreviated.

At its meeting Monday night at Town Hall, the council’s reconsideration of its Feb. 28 approval of the modifications took much longer and resulted in a reversal, denying OWASA approval to formally seek its state allocation of water from Jordan Lake.

The utility says it needs to more aggressively pursue a 5-million-gallons-per-day allocation from the state or risk losing it. The water would be used in the event of emergencies and to stave off tightening water restrictions during droughts.

The move by Chapel Hill follows Carrboro’s decision March 1 to change the wording of the proposed new language for the joint Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement to allow Hillsborough and Orange County to draw water from Jordan Lake, but not OWASA.

At the time, members of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen called on Chapel Hill to reconsider its vote, saying the decision to use Jordan Lake water ran counter to years of water policy and agreement within the community to seek sources within the local purview.

At Monday’s meeting, council member Sally Greene recalled the community’s longstanding wariness toward Jordan Lake, reading from an interview with the late Joe Herzenberg, a council member who championed the policy of a locally controlled water supply.

Among other things, Herzenberg said concerns about the quality from Jordan Lake’s water made it hard to find any local officials willing to drink water from it.

COWASA officials tried to persuade the council to approve the plan, citing concerns that without the official allocation they could be left high and dry during a drought.

Asked for proof that the state may take away the allocation, Ed Holland, OWASA’s chief planning engineer, said he was told in a recent meeting with state water-resources officials that because OWASA’s customers had done such a good job conserving, it would be hard for OWASA to justify its allocation. He said it would be a shame for the community to be punished for doing the right thing.

OWASA Director Ed Kerwin said seeking the allocation during the state’s current round of reviews of the Jordan Lake water allocations is going to be key to securing OWASA’s share for the future.

“The time is now,” he said. OWASA, he said, may have to consider withdrawing from the interlocal agreement if it cannot persuade the local governments from going along with the proposed change in wording.

Several council members said they agreed that the utility should have the emergency access, but did not want to see Jordan Lake being used on a regular basis.

Greene said the water should be a backup source for a true emergency. She said OWASA’s plans to use the Jordan Lake water prior to declaring a water emergency and not as a last resort were troubling.

“It should be a backup, a backup source for a true [water-shortage] emergency, not a bottom-line emergency,” she said.

Representatives of the university and the business community called for approving OWASA’s plan.

Carolyn Elfland, UNC’s associate vice chancellor for campus services, said greater water-supply diversity is needed. She said there was concern about what would happen if the university’s new reclaimed water system went down during a drought. The cost of replacing that water with potable water at the higher prices OWASA charges during water emergencies could represent a real hardship for the university, Efland said.

Also on Monday, the council reviewed a plan to sell advertising on its buses. Council members asked Chapel Hill Transit chief Steven Spade to come back during the upcoming budget discussions with some proposals for how the program would work.

The council also continued a public hearing on the proposed Aydan Court development until May 25.

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