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

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=27 understanding of the work being done to support the UNRBA's recommendations on a revised nutrient management strategy. In 2016, the NC General Assembly passed legislation (Section 14.13.(a))that established the NC Collaboratory. One of the initial charges of this organization was to study nutrient management strategies in general and for Jordan and Falls Lakes specifically. This initial legislation required the Falls Lake study to be completed by December 2021. The General Assembly later passed legislation to extend the deadline to December 2023 to allow the UNRBA reexamination process to complete. This legislation also includes a reference to other evaluations of the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy. The bill requires the EMC to consider that information along with the report by the NC Collaboratory. Following the creation of the Collaboratory,the UNRBA coordinated closely with the organization and its researchers. This allowed the UNRBA to provide input each year on what additional studies would enhance and better inform its work. The UNRBA has shared all its data, work, and preliminary results with the Collaboratory. The Collaboratory also provides subject matter expert and third-party review of the UNRBA modeling efforts. This extremely valuable contribution has been occurring while the models were under development rather than after. This integrated approach allowed the reviewers to provide input and feedback as the models were developed and allowed the modeling team to incorporate adjustments before the models were finalized.Third party reviews increase transparency and provide an extra layer of assurance that the models can be relied upon to support regulatory and policy decisions. By the end of this reexamination process, the UNRBA membership will have invested approximately $10 million to support this effort. This is an unprecedented effort by a regulated community in NC to provide study and research to DWR, EMC, and the General Assembly to support the development of a management approach on a critically important water body. The purpose of this document is to compile key findings from the available studies and present a document that identifies important concepts and principles that should be included in a revised nutrient management strategy for Falls Lake. This document includes notes derived from discussions or materials generated by the Executive Director, Co-chairs of the Path Forward Committee (PFC), Chair of the Modeling and Regulatory Support Workgroup (MRSW), the Scenario Screening Workgroup and its subgroups, members of the MRSW, PFC, and Board of Directors, workshop/symposium participants, and interested stakeholders who have participated in this process. Most of these discussions are based on presentations that are available on the UNRBA meeting page. Most of this input and discussion has occurred during UNRBA meetings. These meetings are open and all attendees, including stakeholders outside of the UNRBA membership, are invited to attend and provide input. Key Findings from the Monitoring and Modeling Studies UNRBA Monitoring Program Routine water quality monitoring in the watershed began in August 2014 and continued through October 2018. The watershed monitoring program obtained monthly samples on 20 water quality parameters from 38 tributary stations. This effort resulted in more than 38,000 measurements and created a database that covered essentially every sub-watershed to Falls Lake. Targeted special studies were also conducted to provide a detailed understanding of the functions of the watershed and lake. It was essential to the analyses and modeling that this data and information collection effort identified the variation of the input of nutrients and other parameters into the lake. It was also a major objective to carefully document and measure Falls Lake's physical, chemical, biological, and geological characteristics.These special studies included storm event sampling, high-flow event sampling, lake sediment depth and quality, lake sediment nutrient storage and release, lake 8