Agenda - 04-07-2009 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Other statements and resolutions have been received to date from the Haw River Assembly, Chatham County and the City of Durham, and these materials are provided as attachments to this 'memorandum. - Durham's resolution differs considerably from that proposed by the Haw River Assembly and Chatham County, which support the rules. This topic was briefly considered at the Board's March 17 meeting. One citizen spoke in favor of implementation of the Jordan Lake rules. Previously, the Board received a presentation on the status. or the rules on January 27. As a part of that presentation, several potential key topics or points were identified (some of which are addressed above), including: The cost of implementing the proposed rules in terms of retrofitting existing development is largely unknown until the jurisdiction assessment is conducted (and this would occur after the rules are implemented, as currently planned), ■ With the County's expected low nitrogen loading rate in its jurisdiction, decreasing by a fixed 35% in the Upper New Hope may be challenging (effectively creating a penalty for jurisdictions which pursued conservation measures prior to the 2001 baseline year), Nutrient trading possibilities that are made possible under the rules may be promising, and should be pursued with the urban jurisdictions on conservation and wetlands projects in the Upper New Hope Arm (Rural Buffer), thus allowing the towns another option for meeting their reduction needs. However, it should, be noted that deletion of the existing development rule would reduce incentives for nutrient trading with the urban jurisdictions. • The need for State funding assistance to deal with the costs of implementing the rules has been noted by many local governments, and • The County has a long history of watershed protection dating to 1981 and notes that the current water quality issues have been long-anticipated. Finally, as noted by the Town of Chapel Hill and OWASA, an "adaptive managemently approach to the rules implementation has been cited as an important component, providing needed flexibility as more is learned about the effectiveness of some provisions and technical aspects of the rules. The State Division of Water Quality has indicated conceptual support for this practice as the rules proceed, although not directly addressed in the current rules. Financial Impacts The cost of implementing the Jordan Lake nutrient management rules varies considerably depending on the source. Much of the cost to local governments would come from the existing development provisions. Compliance with these actions have been estimated at up to $550 million ($900 million by some groups) for all local governments and utility providers in the Jordan Lake watershed, and