Western Wake towns want more water from Jordan Lake

Three western Wake County towns want to take more water from Jordan Lake to satisfy their growing populations.

State and local officials will gather in Apex on Wednesday to solicit opinions on a proposal that would allow Apex, Cary, Morrisville and the Wake County portion of Research Triangle Park to increase their water consumption by more than a third.

The state suggests increasing the area’s water allotment from 24 million gallons per day from Jordan Lake to 33 million for at least the next 30 years. The area’s population is expected to double in size by 2060, to 360,000.

“The population’s growing so much, so they really don’t have any real opportunities” other than this increase, said Tom Reeder, director of water resources for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The plans are based on growth estimates from the Western Wake Partnership, a group led by Cary that recently spent $280 million building new water plants.

“I think Cary’s done a lot of homework, and if that’s what they say they need, that’s probably going to be what they need,” Reeder said.

The new rules also would allow some treated wastewater to be transferred back into the Cape Fear River Basin – where water from Jordan Lake normally flows – as well as into the Neuse River Basin.

Allowing an additional 9 million gallons of water to be transferred daily from Jordan Lake will have some effect downstream, Reeder said, but likely not a significant one.

“We try to look for measures that will mitigate that impact,” he said. “And of course, returning water to the Cape Fear River Basin will mitigate that impact.”

Cary’s sewage treatment plant currently discharges water into the Neuse basin. But a new sewage treatment plant built by the Western Wake Partnership in New Hill, near the Chatham County line, allows discharges into the Cape Fear as well.

The Neuse River flows to New Bern, and the Cape Fear River flows to Wilmington.

An environmental assessment said the proposed changes “will not significantly change Jordan Lake elevations, water quality or water supply pool storage volumes, downstream flows, downstream users’ water supply availability, or downstream water quality in the source or receiving basins.”

The state controls the transfer rights to 100 million gallons per day from Jordan Lake, Reeder said. That water is shared by Apex, Cary, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Raleigh, Wake County, Durham, Pittsboro, Sanford, Chatham County, Orange County, Hillsborough and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority.

The proposed changes are consistent with a supply plan that has been signed off on by all those governments and organizations, according to DENR.

People who wish to comment on the proposed changes can attend the meeting, hosted by DENR, at 6:30 p.m. in the Apex Public Works Building, 105-B Upchurch St.

Another meeting on the rules is planned for Jan. 22 in Fayetteville, which lies downstream from Wake County along the Cape Fear River.

Written comments can be mailed to Harold Brady at the N.C. Division of Water Resources, 1611 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699, or emailed to harold.m.brady@ncdenr.gov.

Comments must be postmarked or emailed by Feb. 5 to be considered by the Environmental Management Commission, which will likely vote in March on whether to approve the proposed changes.

This story was originally published January 1, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Western Wake towns want more water from Jordan Lake."