CFE agenda 041116 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Attachment 1 Bouma suggested other outreach opportunities, such as the Last Friday events in Hillsborough and the upcoming Earth Evening event on April 29 in Hillsborough. Hintz suggested that CFE members volunteer at these events. Wegman and Hintz said better signage is needed to direct people to the Earth Evening venue because last year it was not easy to find due to the other things going on in downtown Hillsborough. Bouma said he would reiterate that request to Marabeth Carr and other Earth Evening organizers. Davis said this year's Earth Evening will include tables with information from DEAPR, Eno River Association, Solid Waste Management, 4H, and several other entities. He said there will be a display about the new Hollow Rock Nature Park that will open in May. Davis also noted a Movie in the Park will occur immediately following the Earth Evening. CFE members discussed the possibility of showing worthwhile environmental documentaries in the future, which might help draw people to the event. Davis asked for volunteers to help at Last Fridays and Earth Evening. Kaiser said he would like to help out and suggested this be on the April meeting agenda. Wegman thanked Davis and Bouma for the information and asked that this matter be discussed further at the April meeting. V. Impaired Streams in Orange County — Davis presented a draft list of "impaired" rivers and streams in Orange County that was released recently by the State of North Carolina. He first showed a map of the impaired surface waters across the entire state, noting how these rivers and streams tend to be concentrated around urban areas. Davis explained that the NC Division of Water Resources assigns a designated use to surface water bodies (such as drinkable, swimmable, or fishable), and then assesses each water body using a variety of standards to determine if they are meeting that use. If a river or stream is not meeting the designated use they are included on the "303d list" of impaired waters. Davis said after the State releases its list and receives public comment, the list and methodology goes to the US EPA for approval. The US EPA will usually focus on reviewing methodology, and will rarely challenge specific State findings. Davis reported that all the waters in the state are considered "impaired" for fish consumption due to mercury from coal fired power plants, however that is not a reason to include them on the 303d list. Davis said over 1,200 waterways in the state were identified as impaired under Category 5 assessments, which require a determination of the TMDL (Total Max Daily Load, or how much of a particular chemical a water can body assimilate and still function). He explained that a TMDL caps pollution allowed in that watershed. This total is then split among the known sources of that pollution and fines can be levied if those sources exceed their allotment. Davis said short of a TMDL, under Category 4 a waterway might be covered by a nutrient load restriction like Jordan Lake Rules. Category 4 waters are impaired, but (by definition) are not included on the 303d list. They do not need the development of a TMDL because they are "covered" by an alternative to a TMDL, such as the Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Strategy. Davis said a lack of healthy populations of benthic macro invertebrates is often the reason why a stream is designated as impaired. Assessments occur no more than once every five years in selected waterways. Monitoring does not always occur in the same season, which can lead to varying results. Droughts also impact the results significantly. 3