Orange Water and Sewer Authority
400 JONES FERRY ROAD
CARRBORO NC 27510
Telephone: (919) 968-4421 or E-mail: OWASA

Water Watch
Thursday, November 29, 2007

 

Weekday update of OWASA water supply and demand information
(OWASA serves the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community)

 

University Lake, the Cane Creek Reservoir, and the Quarry Reservoircurrently contain:

1.665  billion gallons of water, which is 46.8% of their capacity

Estimated Days of Water Supply remaining:

218days (about 6-7 months), based on average demand in the last 30 days, and assuming no further rainfall  

Cane Creek Reservoir Water Level:

12 feet, 7.75 inches below full as of this morning, which is down 1.25 inches from yesterday

University Lake Water Level:

6 feet, 9.50 inches below full as of this morning, which is no change from yesterday
The Quarry Reservoir Level:
5 Feet, 0.00 inches below full as of this morning, which is down no change from yesterday.

Customer Demand:

Yesterday (November 28, 2007):        7.842 million gallons
Past 7 days (average):                         6.987 million gallons
Past 30 days (average):                       7.628 million gallons

November Conservation Objective:    7.300 million gallons

Rainfall in the 24 hours ending this morning at about 7 am was:

0.00 inches at the Jones Ferry Road Water  Treatment Plant, which is about 1.5 miles from University Lake.

0.00 inches at the Cane Creek Reservoir Dam.      

Rainfall to date during November:

0.94 inches at the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant

0.53 inches the Cane Creek Reservoir dam

Normal rainfall for November:   

(30 year average)

3.69 inches at our Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant


Graphs of this and related water supply and demand information can be viewed at http://www.owasa.org/pages/supplydemandgraph.asp.


All of North Carolina is currently under a drought classification by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, with conditions in southern Orange County designated as Extreme.  Stage 2 water Shortage restrictions are in effect for all OWASA customers.  Please click on http://www.owasa.org/Press_Releases/press_release_2007_10_19_Stage_Two_Water_Shortage.pdf for a summary of those requirements.

 

Volume of water in two of the major streams that flow into our reservoirs

Detailed information about the volume of water in two of the major streams that flow into our reservoirs is available at the US Geological Survey web pages noted below. (Please click on either of the Website links underlined below in light blue to go either Website.)  Please note that the streamflow data is presented in cubic feet per second, and that these gauges represent only a portion of all the water flowing into the reservoirs.  You can make the following conversions to change cubic feet per second (cfs) to million gallons per day (mgd) and to estimate total streamflow entering the reservoirs from all sources at any given time:

For University Lake – Multiply the flow (in cfs) reported for Morgan Creek at NC 54 as shown on http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv/?&site_no=02097464 by 2.34 to estimate (in mgd) the total inflow to University Lake.

For the Cane Creek Reservoir – Multiply the flow (in cfs) reported for Cane Creek at Buckhorn Road as shown on http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv/?&site_no=02096846 by 2.71 to estimate (in mgd) the total inflow to the Cane Creek Reservoir.

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