OWASA eyeing Jordan Lake water

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority continues to look at possible plans to draw water from Jordan Lake.

Tonight, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen is scheduled to discuss a letter from the agency updating the costs and benefits of building facilities on the lake. Because an intake, pumps and 15-mile pipeline could cost up to $50 million, OWASA could only do it with help from governments in Orange, Durham and/or Chatham counties.

“It’s too expensive for OWASA to do it on its own,” OWASA planning director Ed Holland said Monday.

OWASA draws water now from University Lake in Carrboro and the Cane Creek Reservoir west of Carrboro. The Jordan Lake project would likely be needed, if at all, only until a third water supply, the American Stone Quarry reservoir, comes online around 2030.

OWASA could tap 5 million gallons a day from Jordan Lake. The city of Durham has an allocation of 10 million gallons, and Orange County another 1 million gallons.

OWASA customers currently use about 8 million gallons a day.

The drought has made long-term planning more important, Holland said. Although OWASA’s lakes never dipped below 39 percent full, the agency needs to plan for growth.

“While a specific time table has not yet been established by Durham or Chatham County, we understand that they will move expeditiously with their evaluation of the possible joint use of Jordan Lake,” OWASA board chairman Randy Kabrick wrote in the letter to Orange County leaders.

“This initiative may be our only opportunity to participate effectively and help shape decisions about regional collaboration for more sustainable management and protection of Jordan Lake.”