Agenda - 05-23-2005-w2 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Haw River Assembly P.O. Box I87 B}nuun NC (919) 542-5790 /u•a~aenrji.net wwrv.l:mvriver.org 4/12/05 Elaine Chiosso, Executive Director Support New Rules to Protect Jordan Lake NOW North Carolina cannot wait any longer to protect the waters of Jordan La/re. Tl:is iarpor7ant drinking water supply mrd popnlm• recreation area is norv on the EPA "Lnpaired Waters' list because ofpollutiou t/rat causes excessive algae growth. After lengthy studies and a stalrel:older process, tke NC Division of Water Quality has released its strategy to r°edrrce pollution in Jordan Lake. Anew Gill in the legislature supports the inrplemwrtatiou of this strategy. The public needs to let our state m:d local elected officials, and tke EMC, Irnorv that this plan to reduce pollution iu Jordan Lake should be approved and prrt into action now -without any fiu•tker delay Iordan Lake is one of the most important natural resources in our region for dririlcing water, recreation and wildlife, and yet we have allowed it to be degraded to the point that part of it is now on the official EPA "Impaired Waters" and new monitoring shows the rest of the lake is too. .Jordan Lake is the drinking water supply for a large number of Triangle residents including Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and north Chatham -and soon Durham. The L,alce is visited by over a million people each year who come to swim, fish, camp and enjoy this 47,000 acres of land and water in a fast developing region. Explosive growth in Chatham and western Walce mean more housing developments are being approved close to the lake -creating even more wastewater and runoff pollution.. The Problem: Too much nitrogen and phosphorus pollution (almost 4 %z million pounds total per year) reaches the lake from upstream wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and from urban, agricultural and construction run-off from land. Parts of the upper lake r°outinely are in violation of the chlorophyll a standard (measurement of a pigment from algae). Algae flourishes in these nutrient rich waters, causing problems for water quality and recreational use. The problem is worst in the Upper New Hope arm of the lake, where waters are shallow and slow-moving, fed by creeks that drain the urban areas and WWTPs of Chapel Hill, Cazrboro and Durham. The pazt of the lake fed by the Haw River arm is also in trouble from nutrients that originate from runoff and WWTP effluent as far upstream as Greensboro, The Solution: We have to decrease the nutrients -nitrogen and phosphorus -that gets into the lake. After many years of study (and delay), development of a sophisticated lake model, and almost two years of a stakeholder process, The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) has now released the NC Divisor of Water Quality (DWQ) "Draft Nutrient Management Strategy and the TMDL" for Tordan Lake for public review. The report identifies the sources of