Agenda 11-02-23; 4-a - Resolution Endorsing Consensus Principles II for Revised Falls Lake Rules

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2 determined that the proposed reductions as originally adopted are not technically feasible and that a new method is needed. (Prior estimates of Orange County's likely costs to address the Rules, if the County acted on its own, have ranged as high as $46 million over a 10-year period.) As a result, the UNRBA jurisdictions collectively worked to encourage a re-examination of the Rules, with an alternative method of addressing nutrient reductions for the Lake. Rather than trying to implement jurisdictional load reductions on their own — at great cost and with questionable results — the UNRBA and its member local governments have spent the last few years working with consultants and in coordination with the NC Division of Water Resources to find a preferable and "doable" alternative approach to meeting the nutrient reduction goals. To this end, the UNRBA developed an alternative option for achieving compliance with Stage I existing development nutrient load reductions that were required by the Rules. This alternative approach promoted a commitment to additional actions directed at reducing nutrient loading impacts from existing development, using both existing and new and innovative measures to improve the water conditions in the Lake. Titled the "Interim Alternative Implementation Approach" or IAIA, this program is considered interim because it only applies during the period between the time the alternative approach was initiated and when the Rules are readopted. The IAIA is based on voluntary participation of UNRBA members in the program and allows participating jurisdictions to achieve compliance with the Stage I requirements. Choosing not to participate in the IAIA would result in a jurisdiction having to comply on its own by developing a Stage I local program consistent with the adopted Rules and the Model Program as written. Phase I compliance without the IAIA would require installation of nutrient-removing measures in direct relation to Orange County's prior nutrient loading. In other words, the County would need to install enough nutrient-reduction ponds or similar Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) to compensate for the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus added to Falls Lake from Orange County between 2006 and 2012. By contrast, participating in the IAIA allows Orange County in the interim period to achieve full Stage I existing development compliance. The IAIA program began on July 1, 2021 and after two years of productive, nutrient reducing IAIA projects across member jurisdictions, the UNRBA is now confident that an investment- based, joint compliance approach to the Rules is the path to success. Orange County has already completed several stormwater retrofits, invested in land conservation in the Neuse River Basin, and increased efforts in hydrilla control in just two fiscal years. This new direction has enabled the UNRBA to revise its original consensus principles from 2010 and present the attached document — the UNRBA Consensus Principles 11 (Attachment 3). These Principles are based on scientific conclusions resulting from a 10-year evaluation of Falls Lake and its watershed by the UNRBA, NC Collaboratory, and other organizations. The Principles are described in more detail in a companion document titled UNRBA Concepts and Principles for Reexamination (Attachment 4). County staff from DEAPR and Planning and Inspections have been involved in the development of this program from the outset and recommend support of this strategy as a