INC NEWS - Jordan Lake Water Quality Rules

[pat carstensen]

I attended the hearing on the Jordan Lake Water Quality Rules last night.  
Basically the top part of the lake is turning yucky (this is not the 
technical term (-:) because too much nitrogen and phosphorus runs into it.  
After a lot of computer modeling and talking and scientific investigation, 
the state's Division of Water Quality has proposed a set of rules on water 
treatment plants, agriculture and stormwater that would decrease nitrogen 
run-off by 35% and phosphorus by 5% in our area.  Because the Jordan Lake 
watershed extends from Cary to Greensboro, all these area would be affected 
to one extent or another.

An admittedly one-sided view of the issue:
ncconservationnetwork1.org/campaign/clean_up_Jordan_cjl/explanation

The bad news is that the estimated cost is something like a billion dollars 
over the next 10 years.

So is there any ground between yucky water (that some people drink and lots 
of folks swim in and that will become more and more important as this area 
grows) and spending a LOT of money?

Well, this is where INC and individual neighborhoods come in.

The biggest source of nutrients in our area is stormwater run-off from 
existing development.  It's also the hardest to fix by making a lot of 
formal rules.  But it's the type of thing that the informal networks of 
list-serves and block parties could do a lot about.

For example, one of the big problem is how we put fertilizer on our lawns.  
To make sure that we don't put too much on, maybe block parties could 
include a "get your soil tested" booth.  If people are interested in putting 
information on fertilizer applications into their newsletters, I will track 
down some information down.

Regards, pat

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