Success Story: Regional Water Supply Management Partnership
Triangle region forms partnership to cooperate on water supply
Project Purpose
Following two historic droughts, the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s (NC DEQ) Division of Water Resources (DWR) initiated a discussion on water supply allocations from Jordan Lake. In 2009, the Central Pines Regional Council (at the time named the Triangle J Council of Government) facilitated a partnership of counties, municipalities and water authorities to address the issue. The partnership aimed to sort out each member's long-term water supply needs.
Quick Facts
- The initial partnership was called the Jordan Lake Partnership. The partnership continues to grow and was rebranded in 2019 as the Triangle Water Supply Partnership. As of December 2023, the partnership includes Orange, Durham, Chatham, Wake, Johnston and Harnett counties.
- The Partnership used peer-reviewed projections of water demand to determine regional water allocations. The results are included in the Triangle Water Supply Plan. The plan aims to ensure that water use will not negatively affect downstream users even in severe drought conditions.
- The Partnership also developed an Interconnection Model, which helps identify treated water supply alternatives in the case of a water shortage.
- The Partnership updates the Interconnection Model and Triangle Water Supply Plan on a regular basis to help the members manage water supply resilience.
Spotlight on Equity
The utilities that make up the Triangle Water Supply Partnership know that providing low cost and high-quality drinking water to everyone is important. Sharing resources regionally reduces risk, provides cost savings and offers a collaborative advantage over working alone. Additionally, the partnership invites downstream utilities to take part in conversations and analyze impacts on downstream water supplies to make sure that the partnership never compromises the ability of downstream communities in meeting their own water supply needs.
| Key Info | |
|---|---|
| Location | Central North Carolina |
| Estimated Costs | ~$300,000 |
| Published | March 1, 2024 |
| Project Contact |
|---|
| Emily Barrett Environment & Resilience Director Central Pines Regional Council ebarrett@centralpinesnc.gov (919) 538-0001 |
| Related Resources |
|---|
| Triangle Water Supply Partnership webpage |
- The Partnership drafted an award-winning Triangle Water Supply Plan in 2014 that helped NC DEQ’s Environmental Management Commission to allocate water from Jordan Lake to nearby municipalities in Chatham, Durham and Wake counties. The plan included drought projections through 2060 and recommendations for water supply allocation. The plan accounted for droughts as severe as any seen in the region over the last 80 years.
- In 2016, the Partnership completed its second deliverable, the Interconnection Model. The model helps identify water resource alternatives in the case of a water shortage. It was the first regional model designed at its scale.
- At the request of the Partnership, DWR and the Environmental Management Commission oversaw the revision of the Jordan Lake’s water supply allocation plan in 2017. The Partnership’s Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan and Interconnection Model were used in support of the Jordan Lake Round 4 Water Supply Allocation plan.
- The Partnership expanded in 2019 to include new members and incorporate the management of additional water bodies. The Partnership now oversees water management over a larger portion the Upper Neuse and Cape Fear river basins. The Partnership now manages drinking water across six counties including Orange, Durham, Chatham, Wake, Johnston and Harnett.
- The Partnership completed an update to the Interconnection Model in early 2022 and plans to publish an update to the Triangle Water Supply Plan by 2025.
- The Partnership plans to publish an Emergency Spill Response Mitigation Plan by 2025.
- Most of the funding comes from membership fees from the cities, counties and water districts that make up the Partnership. The Partnership charges members an annual rate based on the size of the member’s water system at the time of joining. The base rate is $9,000 but there are extra fees depending on the number of water connections that a partner manages at the time of joining.
- The Partnership estimates that annual operating expenses, not including consultant fees, are roughly $50,000.
- The annual budget for fiscal year 2024 was approximately $322,000. While large, the Partnership notes that the bulk of member dues and annual expenses goes to paying technical consultants to develop important regional work products in collaboration with members.
Triangle Water Supply Partnership (formerly known as the Jordan Lake Partnership); Member municipal and county governments; Regional water and sewer authorities; Central Pines Regional Council (formerly known as the Triangle J Council of Governments)
- The Partnership allows for improved coordination between water management divisions of different counties and municipalities. It ensures that water usage from each water body is sustainable and that regional drinking water needs can be met.
- The Partnership cites multiple benefits of the collaboration including:
- Reduced project costs
- Increased resilience of water supplies during droughts and other natural hazards
- Enhanced ability to comply with drinking water regulations
- Ensuring a sustainable use of drinking water resources
- The Triangle Water Supply Plan was fundamental to achieving the water supply allocations that DWR has granted in its Jordan Lake Round 4 Water Supply Allocation Plan. The Triangle Water Supply Plan, in particular, helped reassure state agencies that there was sufficient regional coordination, and that the Triangle area was not impacting downstream water supply.
- The Partnership continues to grow and added two new members 2023.
Emily Barrett, environment and resilience director for the Central Pines Regional Council, offered the following advice to entities wanting to develop a regional water management partnership:
- Try to find regional organizations to collaborate and communicate with from the start. This effort works best when you have a decent number of regional entities represented.
- If you scale up and work with your neighbors, you can cover more of the water resources and plan more effectively in setting water allocations.
- Reaching out to the councils of governments is a good place to start as they can help you set up a structure that is flexible and scalable.
- Learning from other groups can help you get started. The Catawba Wateree Water Management Group and Yadkin Pee-Dee Water Management Group followed a similar model. The Yadkin group took lessons from the Partnership in forming and they now coordinate activities over a much larger region.