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7 <br /> UPPER NEUSE RIVER BASIN ASSOCIATION (UNRBA) CONSENSUS PRINCIPLES <br /> II TO GUIDE REVISIONS TO THE FALLS LAKE RULES <br /> Approval by the UNRBA Board of Directors September 20, 2023 <br /> These Consensus Principles are based on scientific conclusions resulting from a 10-year <br /> evaluation of Falls Lake and its watershed by the UNRBA,NC Collaboratory, and other <br /> organizations. The information now available cannot be fully described in this set of Consensus <br /> Principles but is described in more detail in a companion document titled"Concepts and <br /> Principles for the UNRBA Recommendations for a Revised Falls Lake Nutrient Management <br /> Strategy" available online at https://unrba.org/reexamination. <br /> The UNRBA is committed to a cooperative and collaborative process to reach agreement on <br /> revised Falls Lake Rules (also referred to as the revised Falls Lake Nutrient Management <br /> Strategy). The Association appreciates our positive relationship with the NC Department of <br /> Environmental Quality and its Division of Water Resources (DEQ-DWR). The UNRBA will <br /> work diligently to maintain this relationship through the development and the adoption of a <br /> revised set of Falls Lake Rules. We have had the opportunity to interact and report to the NC <br /> Environmental Management Commission (EMC) on initiatives of the UNRBA. We plan to <br /> continue this communication through the readoption and implementation of the Falls Lake Rules. <br /> These Consensus Principles, and supporting information, will be provided to DEQ-DWR, the <br /> EMC, and the NC General Assembly as required by State law. <br /> 1. Revised rules are needed to promote effective action and sustainable investment by local <br /> governments,utilities, and other partners to meet the goals of maintaining, protecting, and <br /> improving water quality in Falls Lake into the future. The UNRBA recognizes the <br /> importance of this lake as a water supply source, an ecological and recreational resource, and <br /> a flood control reservoir. <br /> 2. NC DEQ-DWR and the EMC should move forward promptly with the revisions to the Falls <br /> Lake rules, taking into consideration these Consensus Principles. <br /> 3. The revised rules should embrace a systems approach focusing on solutions that consider <br /> interactions among surface water, land surfaces, groundwater, soils, and atmospheric and <br /> climatological drivers. This watershed-health approach should consider environmental <br /> benefits, costs, and impacts to users of the water resource and those asked to pay the costs of <br /> the regulations. The revised rules should improve water quality throughout the watershed, <br /> and not prioritize activities solely based on the reduction of nutrients to Falls Lake. <br /> 4. The revised rules should include adaptive management. Implementation of the rules should <br /> be reviewed every 5 years, with a report to address new information, conditions, or concerns <br /> that have developed during the previous 5 years. The UNRBA proposes that the adaptive <br /> management provision also include a detailed reevaluation of the rules completed 25 years <br /> after the date the revised rules are enacted. A detailed reevaluation should incorporate <br /> additional monitoring data collected by DWR and other organizations, data analysis, <br /> modeling evaluations, and consideration of technological advancements for improving water <br /> quality. The 25-year review should include a reexamination of the rules, so that changes may <br /> be proposed and put forward for consideration. <br /> 5. The revised rules for managed lands should be an investment-based,joint-compliance <br /> approach. Managed lands include residential, commercial, institutional (schools, hospitals, <br /> other state and federal facilities, etc.), agricultural (cropland and pasture), road rights of way, <br /> recreational (parks), etc. <br /> 6. The revised rules should not require nutrient load reductions from natural or unmanaged <br />