OCWA launches biggest upgrade ever to double water supply for Micron-spurred growth. Who will pay?

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Onondaga County Water Authority has embarked on the biggest expansion of the regional water system since it was first built in the 1960s.

Micron Technology’s planned semiconductor manufacturing complex in Clay, and the growth expected to follow, could more than double the amount of water the authority draws from Lake Ontario.

OCWA already plans to build a second, 26-mile pipeline from the lake to Clay. It’s even possible the agency will add a third pipeline if Micron and the region grow faster than projected.

“You never know,” said Jeff Brown, the agency’s executive director. “Depending on the regional growth, we’ll have to evaluate that.”

Micron is the main impetus for the expansion, but the bigger water system will also serve the new businesses and burgeoning population expected to tag along with Micron.

At this point, it’s still not clear who’s paying for the system expansion and what the final price tag will be.

“We are talking to multiple people about funding that, including the state, the federal government as well as Micron,” Brown said. “That has not been determined yet how it’s going to be divvied up.”

The agency expects the expansion to cost about $549 million for the first phase of the Micron project — that is, for the first two chipmaking factories, called fabs. Half of that money would pay for the second pipeline from Lake Ontario. The first line was built in the 1960s by the Metropolitan Water Board, a move that allowed growth in Onondaga County’s northern suburbs.

Now, OCWA draws the majority of its water through one main pipe from Lake Ontario and a smaller portion from Otisco Lake. On average, the system provides up to 36 million gallons a day to residents of parts of five counties.

The expansion would more than double the amount of water OCWA can provide on a typical day — to 72 million gallons a day. Micron would soak up much of that: At full build-out, the chipmaking complex could use more water than all of OCWA’s 350,000 current customers combined.

The expansion will serve Micron, existing water users and new residents and businesses expected to move into the region.

So far, the agency has been talking with Micron but hasn’t reached an agreement on funding, Brown said.

Micron says it could need as much as 48 million gallons a day, if it builds four fabs as promised. The second pipeline, and some other system upgrades, could provide that much.

But that doesn’t include all the suppliers that could come to support Micron, or all the new businesses and homes expected to follow closely behind. Depending on the extent of all that development, OCWA might need to draw more water out of the lake.

Right now, OCWA is allowed to withdraw 63 million gallons per day from Lake Ontario. If the agency wants more, it would need the permission of both the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S.-Canada consortium that regulates water withdrawal from the Great Lakes.

Micron says it will build up to four fabrication plants, or fabs, over the next 20 years. The four fabs could employ 9,000 people and spur the creation of 40,000 additional jobs in the community, Micron has said.

The project is undergoing environmental review now, and Micron plans to break ground in November on the first fab.

Construction and operation of the third and fourth fabs would require more water system upgrades and potentially a third water line, Brown said. There are no cost estimates yet for that second phase.

But the first phase is needed, Brown says, and not just for Micron.

A second group served by the expanded water system would be manufacturers, businesses and supply shops expected to follow in Micron’s wake and settle in Onondaga and nearby counties.

And the system will supply current and new housing, businesses, apartments and hotels, and maybe even schools. More taps and toilets will be needed as the region’s population is expected to grow by as much as 100,000 people in the next generation. Having a second line from Lake Ontario will also provide a backup for the region if the current line fails or needs repairs.

Water users will also pay some share of the system through their bills, but, again, it’s not clear how much. The Micron project could bring tens of thousands of new residents to the area, and they’ll all need water running to their taps.

Of that 48 million gallons Micron is expected to draw, about 8.6 million gallons would be treated at an industrial wastewater plant and returned to the plant via underground pipelines, according to OCWA’s calculations. That recycled water would be used for cooling and other ancillary uses, but it would still be too contaminated to use in the chipmaking process.

The remaining 42 million gallons would be treated and released into the Oneida River, Micron has said.

OCWA draws water through a 54-inch-diameter pipeline from Lake Ontario to Clay. The agency has enough water supply to provide Micron’s first fab without major upgrades, Brown said. But by the time fab 2 comes online, which Micron says will be in 2029, the water agency will need to have the second line in place and make improvements to the water treatment plant in Oswego and the holding tanks in Clay.

The agency has hired the GDH consulting firm for $880,000 to create a master plan for the project. That will help answer some current unknowns, including how many new people and businesses might need water, Brown said.

The plan won’t be done until the end of the year, but OCWA is already starting work on the early phases, including making improvements to the water treatment plant in Oswego.

The GHD contract also requires the consultants to assess whether OCWA could draw excess water from the city of Syracuse, which pulls its water from Skaneateles lake. Over the past few months, the city has had low water pressure problems and had been buying about 3 million gallons a day from OCWA.

The GHD report said Syracuse loses more than 60% of the water it pulls out of Skaneateles Lake; even at that, the city could still draw millions more. Brown said OCWA has no plans to use Syracuse’s water, but wanted to include any potential city surplus in the regional calculations.