(Prepared Fall 2004)

Background

Wake County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted the Wake County Water/Sewer Plan in September 1998. The plan represented the culmination of an effort that had been initiated in July 1997. During that effort, Wake County worked with key stakeholder groups and the county’s 12 municipal governments to build consensus on the logical and orderly expansion of water and sewer service to serve the county.

The Western Wake [Cape Fear River basin] Regional Water Reclamation Facility is a key recommendation of the Wake County Water/Sewer Plan. Because wastewater treatment capacity is an important issue to several local governments in western Wake County, time has been of the essence to move this project toward implementation.

In May 2002, Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Morrisville, and Wake County formally agreed to jointly commission the Western Wake County Regional Wastewater Treatment Studies project. While the municipal governments agreed to work cooperatively on the study effort, no local government was bound or required to continue their participation beyond the study effort.

The Western Wake County Regional Wastewater Treatment Studies project addressed:

• The need for additional capacity to serve growing areas in Wake County.

• The required return of treated wastewater to the Cape Fear Basin by Jan. 1, 2011 according to the terms of the interbasin transfer certificate issued by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission to Apex, Cary, Morrisville and Wake County (for Research Triangle Park South).

• An expressed preference by state regulatory agencies for regional wastewater management planning.

• The schedule for bringing facilities online. (The amount of time between an optimistic permitting, design, and construction schedule and the time when most of the participating municipal governments would reach capacity is about the same. Some local governments will exceed the capacity of their existing wastewater treatment facilities before 2011.)

The purpose of the study was to enable the towns to evaluate the technical, financial, regulatory, and environmental impact factors associated with various options to address wastewater capacity needs to the year 2030.

Project Work Plan

The management and coordination for the study was provided by a technical management team consisting of a senior staff person from each of the participating municipal governments and Wake County. The county manager and town managers or their designees provided oversight. The goals of the two phases of study were to provide the project partners with the information to select the most efficient and effective solution that meets regional needs.

Phase I Study (November 2002 – September 2003)
This phase focused on identifying and evaluating alternative wastewater management options and the development of a reclaimed water program. The project partners initially reviewed 24 wastewater management options and selected seven options for more detailed evaluation.

The criteria for detailed evaluation of the seven options were:

• Present worth costs for capital, operations and maintenance
• Direct environmental effects
• Institutional complexity
• Reclaimed water potential
• Effect on water supply safe yield
• Project schedule uncertainty

Recommendation – Four options were selected for further review in Phase I. The towns agreed to pursue a series of Phase III studies to obtain approval for whatever option was selected.

Phase II Study (October 2003 – July 2004)
This phase focused on the financial impacts and alternative organizational models for four wastewater management options. The four options selected for the Phase II study (Options 1, 5, 9, and 10D) scored most favorably during the evaluation.

Option 1 represents the “baseline” option of each municipal government acting independently to address wastewater capacity needs. The other three options represent varying degrees of cooperation. The Phase II work plan included:

• Development of a more refined implementation schedule
• Evaluation of the financial resources required for implementation
• Evaluation of alternative organizational models for intergovernmental cooperation to implement the preferred wastewater management solution
• Selection of a preferred wastewater management solution

Recommendation – Option 10D selected was the preferred wastewater management solution.

Phase III Study

N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources representatives have said an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be needed because of the size and complexity of the proposed project and the anticipated degree of public interest. The purpose will be to identify the environmental impacts and define measures to mitigate them.

Phase III studies include:

Conducting Preliminary Site Investigations

The towns initially reviewed 29 possible water reclamation sites. They selected 12 sites for more detailed evaluation. The evaluation included parcel information for selected sites and adjacent sites, property tax information, river and stream buffer data, land use data, topography, aerial photography, soils data, and wetland mapping data.

The results of the additional evaluation yielded three possible sites for a new water reclamation facility. For planning purposes, one site (Site 14) was selected to develop facility cost estimates for raw wastewater pumping and conveyance, wastewater treatment, sludge management and disposal, and effluent discharge to the Cape Fear River.

Pursuing Jordan Lake Discharge

During the Phase I study, the towns studied discharge to Jordan Lake as well as to the Cape Fear River. They saw benefits from discharging to Jordan Lake. The study also indicated that the potential savings in pumping and conveyance facilities for a Jordan Lake discharge versus a Cape Fear River discharge were on the order of $15 million to $20 million.

In light of the identified benefits and potential savings, the towns commissioned a detailed study to pursue a discharge to Jordan Lake. During this part of the study, it was determined that the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been working to address point and non-point sources of total nitrogen and total phosphorous for the entire lake.

Environment and Natural Resources has determined that a maximum daily load for nitrogen and total phosphorous is necessary because parts of Jordan Lake are an impaired water body based on the chlorophyll a standard. With a total daily maximum load soon to be established, it would be necessary for the towns to purchase total nitrogen and total phosphorous capacity (in pounds per year) from one or more of the existing Jordan Lake dischargers in order to secure a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

Because the costs associated with purchasing total phosphorous and total nitrogen capacity as well as the potential delay associated with additional water quality sampling and modeling, the towns decided to pursue a new discharge to the main stem of the Cape Fear River.

Conducting Dwarf Wedgemussel Surveys

From meetings with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the Phase I study, the towns learned it would be necessary to conduct dwarf wedgemussel surveys, a federally listed endangered species. Those surveys would be for the Wake County portions of the Swift and Middle Creek drainage basins that are within the utility service areas of Apex, Cary, Morrisville, and Holly Springs. The purpose was to assess distribution and numbers of dwarf wedgemussels within those service areas and to develop secondary and cumulative impact mitigation plans.

The towns met with representatives of NC DENR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May and June 2004 to prepare the mussel survey plan. Surveys were conducted at 40 sites, which included approximately 5,145 meters (2.93 miles) of stream in June and July 2004.
Of the 40 sites surveyed, 21 were in the Middle Creek sub-basin and 19 were located in the Swift Creek sub-basin. State and federal representatives participated in field survey activities. During the survey, no live or relic specimens of dwarf wedgemussels were found. The draft Mussel Survey Report was submitted in August 2004.

Preparing Secondary and Cumulative Impact Mitigation Plan Documents

Secondary and cumulative impacts are those that are indirectly caused or facilitated by a proposed project. They typically occur during the 20- or 30-year period after construction of the proposed facilities. These impacts are typically associated with the development that occurs in the service area(s) for a proposed project.

Mitigation of secondary impacts is frequently required. The mitigation may include ordinances already in place and other measures that a municipal government would implement to minimize the environmental impacts. For the Phase III studies, the towns have elected to develop mitigation plans that can be used to address planned infrastructure projects within each municipal government’s service area for five to seven years.

Alternative Intergovernmental Cooperation Options

The results of the evaluation of alternative organizational models have been documented for the Project Partners in the form of a technical memorandum titled, “Technical Memorandum 6.0 – Organizational Models for Intergovernmental Cooperation.”.

Recommendations

Since each currently operates efficient and effective water and sewer delivery organizations, the towns determined that the most efficient and effective organization for regional wastewater management facilities would be the interlocal agreement model using the joint agency approach.

Features of the recommended organizational model include:

• Reduced unit cost of service for capital facilities, operations, and maintenance.
• Improved quality and reliability of service.
• Local decision-making for level-of-service requirements.
• Local decision-making for establishing rates, fees, charges.
• Cooperative decision-making for facility staffing, operations, and maintenance.
• Cooperative decision-making for capital improvement planning and implementation.
• Cooperative decision-making for annual budget preparation.
• No redundant government services.

Preferred Wastewater Management Solution

Generally, each of the four options selected for additional study in Phase II (Option 1, 5, 9 and 10D) were equal in level and quality of service, regulatory review and approval requirements, and technical complexity. The group agreed that a modification of Option 10D was the preferred wastewater management solution.

Option 10D Modification

To improve the level of service provided by Option 10D, the towns included Holly Springs. Holly Springs determined there was a cost advantage to keeping its Utley Creek plant and discharging treated wastewater to the outfall serving the regional plant. In July 2004, state officials confirmed they would work with the towns on that proposal.

Under the modified Option 10D, regional facilities would provide wastewater treatment for Apex, Cary, Morrisville, and the Wake County portion of Research Triangle Park (RTP South). Holly Springs would continue using its Utley Creek plant and discharge up to 4 million gallons a day to an outfall serving the Western Wake regional plant and the Utley Creek plant. The line would discharge treated effluent to the Cape Fear River downstream of Buckhorn Dam.

Fuquay-Varina will not participate in the use, financing, or construction of regional facilities. Fuquay-Varina will meet its needs with its Terrible Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Harnett County’s North Harnett Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Program Management

In June 2004, the towns agreed that the best approach would be the interlocal agreement model. The first interlocal agreement will address land acquisition, NPDES permitting, and EIS/201 Facilities Plan preparation. The second interlocal agreement will address final design, construction, ownership, operations, maintenance, and management of the facilities.

The towns assigned Cary to be the lead agency. A technical advisory committee will have senior staff members from each participating town. The Town of Cary Public Works and Utilities director will chair the committee.

Program Requirements

Under the proposed implementation plan, each town will continue to own, operate, and maintain its facilities. Each town will be responsible for its water and sewer billing, revenue collection, management, administration and customer service.

Each town will be responsible for constructing facilities to deliver wastewater to the regional raw wastewater pumping stations.

The technical advisory committee’s regional project work will cover land acquisition, permits, design and construction, and facility staffing, operations and maintenance.

Program Costs

Estimated costs for the first phase of the modified Option 10D are estimated at $199 million.

The Grants and Loans staff of the N.C. Division of Water Quality has indicated that low-interest loan funding is available through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program. The staff said that approximately $5 million for permitting and design and $60 million for construction is available. To receive the money, a 201 Facilities Plan is required.

Funding Sources

Each municipal government may use water and sewer enterprise funds for its pro-rata share of the costs. They will likely be required to adjust rates, fees and charges to generate enough money for the regional project. Some combination of the following funding sources is likely for land acquisition, permitting, design, and construction:

• Pay-as-you-go
• State Revolving Fund (low-interest loan)
• General obligation bonds
• Revenue bonds

As the lead agency, Cary will be responsible for providing timely and accurate budget forecasts to each municipal government for administration, operations and maintenance.