Water is one of our most precious resources, but one that is often taken for granted until it is in short supply. The Town of Holly Springs has been actively planning to make sure that everyone has access to an adequate water supply and that future residents and businesses will have plentiful water to meet their needs.
Currently, Holly Springs has access to 12 million gallons per day of water. But two years ago, when the town’s future land use plan was created, experts determined that down the road when Holly Springs is completely built out, the town will need 16 million gallons per day of water.
“We knew that sometime in the future we needed an additional 4 million gallons per day, so we started meeting with water plants in the area to determine where we could purchase water,” said Holly Springs Utilities and Infrastructure Executive Director Kendra Parrish. “Our goal has always been to diversify our sources of water so we would not be reliant on one provider.”
Today the town gets its water from Harnett Regional Water, which pulls from the Cape Fear River. Holly Springs also has agreements with Apex and Cary to obtain water in case of emergencies. But neither municipality could provide the town water on a regular basis. One option that was deemed cost prohibitive, was for the town to build its own water treatment plant.
As the area continues to grow, many municipalities are looking for additional water resources. After talking with neighbors, Holly Springs staff soon discovered that Fuquay-Varina was also seeking additional water. It made sense for the towns to work together to find a solution.
“From our research, we discovered that the City of Sanford Water Filtration Facility was poised for a major expansion project,” said Parrish. “In fact, Fuquay-Varina, Pittsboro, and Chatham County were also interested in exploring the possibility of tapping into this expansion and it soon became apparent that we could pool our resources to make this happen.”
Over the last two years, the Holly Springs Town Council has approved a regional partner agreement to study how the Sanford facility could meet their future needs, along with research into how to get that water from Sanford to Holly Springs. In September, the Council approved an agreement to partner in the design of the water treatment plant expansion. The total cost to Holly Springs for the design and construction is estimated to be approximately $66 million. Portions of that cost could be offset by American Rescue Plan Act funding along with federal and state grants.
“Residents and businesses should be reassured that we are being proactive about the town’s future water needs,” said Parrish. “The next time you drive by those big water towers in Holly Springs, you can explain to your kids where we get our water and that future generations will have no worries when they turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink.”
