Durham’s Drinking Water Partnership

It’s Monday, July 15.

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As the City of Durham grows, so does its need for drinking water. 

That’s why, by 2029, Durham, in partnership with Chatham County, Orange County, and the Town of Pittsboro, has plans to use Jordan Lake as a drinking water source. 

“We plan 50 years out,” says Sydney Miller, the city’s water resource director. The plan buys enough time to avoid having to implement restrictions on water usage.

Under the partnership, Durham will build a water intake facility on the west side of the lake. That pipeline will flow into a new water treatment plant before it’s sent through transmission pipelines to join existing distribution infrastructure, supplementing the roughly 28 million gallons per day that Durham already draws from Lake Michie and Little River Reservoir. 

The plan isn’t without its perils. The Haw River, which feeds into Jordan Lake, is one of the most endangered rivers in the nation due to pollution runoff, and Jordan Lake, too, has been an impaired waterway for decades due to nutrient pollution and high pH levels.

There’s also the supply question. Elaine Chiosso, the head of the nonprofit Haw River Assembly, says she worries about “the impact of constantly drawing water,” especially following a series of droughts in the early 2000s. 

“We need a legislature that’s willing to pass rules that will protect the environment and to fund staffing,” Chiosso says. “There are so many vacant positions in important environmental jobs in the state of North Carolina right now, it’s really kind of shocking.”

—Jane

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