Agenda - 03-16-2010 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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,~f T1~C~n.rh er`~ .~.- 3 CONSENSUS PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE FALLS LAKE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Falls Lake is currently classified by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) as WS-IV, B: NSW, CA. Pursuant to this classification, the designated uses of Falls Lake include aquatic life propagation and biological integrity (including fishing and fish), wildlife, primary and secondary recreation, agriculture, and water supply. Falls Lake serves as a water supply for the City of Raleigh (Raleigh) and six other municipalities in Wake County. 2. The EMC has established a water quality standard for chlorophyll-a of 40 ug/L to protect the designated uses of all waters in the state, including Falls Lake. Since the time it was constructed, portions of Falls Lake have experienced nutrient conditions that have contributed to monitored exceedances of the chlorophyll-a standard. In 2005, the General Assembly directed the EMC to develop a nutrient management strategy for Falls Lake. The legislation was amended so that the nutrient management strategy and implementing rules are to be established no later than January 15, 2011. 4. In 2008, the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) found that the chlorophyll-a levels at certain locations in Falls Lake exceeded the water quality standard. The EMC found, in the 2009 Neuse Basin Plan, that new nutrient management measures were needed to address nutrient-related problems in Falls Lake. 5. The level of nutrient loading reductions necessary to protect and improve water quality in Falls Lake make it appropriate to establish atwo-stage nutrient management strategy -the first stage (Stage 1) designed to achieve the water quality standard for chlorophyll-a in the lower lake below Highway 50 (Lower Lake), where the water supply intake is located, and to improve water quality in the upper lake above Highway 50 (Upper Lake), and the second stage (Stage 2) designed to further address water quality in the Upper Lake. 6. The first stage of nutrient loading reductions and protection measures for Falls Lake, as described below, are designed to achieve sufficient improvements in water quality to result in the removal of the Lower Lake from the 303(d)' list of impaired waters by 2021. 7. The Stage 1 management measures should include reductions in loading from all major categories of sources including point sources, agriculture and other fertilizer using activities, new development, and existing development. ' Under Section 303(d) of the U.S. Clean Water Act, waters of the state that have water quality violations resulting in the failure to meet the designated and protected uses are designated as "impaired".