Orange County NC Website
Bonnie Hammersley said this was a coordinated effort tonight, and she apologized that <br /> she did not get these documents to the BOCC earlier. She said this error will not happen <br /> again. <br /> Bonnie Hammersley requested that Item #5 be moved up prior to Item #4, since Chapel <br /> Hill Mayor Elect Pam Hemminger was in attendance and may wish to speak on the item. <br /> Chair McKee agreed. <br /> 5. Upper Neuse River Basin Association Update <br /> David Stancil, Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> Director, said there is an attempt to have a "water issues" conversation each year. <br /> Tom Davis, Water Resources Coordinator, introduced Pam Hemminger who is the <br /> Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA) Chair, and Mayor Elect of the Town of Chapel <br /> Hill. <br /> Tom Davis said UNRBA is made up of many towns and counties, and Orange County <br /> has the most land in the watershed. He reviewed the following information: <br /> BACKGROUND: <br /> The Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA), of which Orange County is a <br /> member, is working on a multi-year effort (titled "The Path Forward") to revise Stage II of the <br /> Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy (Falls Lake Rules). As currently written, Stage II of <br /> the Falls Lake Rules requires local governments, the North Carolina Department of <br /> Transportation (NCDOT), the agricultural community, and other regulated parties located in the <br /> Falls Lake watershed (Attachment A) to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient loading to <br /> Falls Lake by 40% and 77%, respectively. While the members of the UNRBA agree that <br /> protecting Falls Lake as the City of Raleigh's water supply is paramount, the members also <br /> agree that there are serious technical and financial impediments to meeting these nutrient <br /> reduction goals. <br /> Additional background information concerning the Falls Lake Rules, the underlying <br /> Consensus Principles, estimated costs to comply with the Falls Lake Rules, and related <br /> information are provided in Attachment B, excerpts from the agenda abstract from the October <br /> 14, 2014 Board of County Commissioners work session. <br /> Tom Davis said the UNRBA continues to make progress on several important projects, <br /> including: <br /> 1. Lake and Watershed Water Quality Monitoring <br /> 2. BMP Nutrient Credit Development <br /> 3. Development of Nutrient Credit Calculation Tool <br /> 4. Falls Lake Rules Review <br /> Tom Davis then reviewed each of these projects: <br /> 1. Lake and Watershed Water Quality Monitoring <br /> CardnoEntrix, the consultant working for the UNRBA, completed the first 12 months of water <br /> quality sampling in July 2015. The Falls Lake Rules stipulate that in order for outside data to <br /> be evaluated during the re-examination of Stage II of the Falls Lake Rules, a minimum of three <br /> years of sampling data must be collected for the data to be considered by the Environmental <br /> Management Commission (EMC). The UNRBA's water quality sampling program is producing <br /> information for the following purposes: <br />