What's in Store for Wake County's Water?

Residents of Raleigh and eastern Wake County should be concerned about their drinking water supply. For more than a decade, portions of Falls Lake have been classified as impaired by the Environmental Protection Agency due to runoff from urban areas. In its 2008 Draft of Impaired Waters, EPA found the entire lake to be in violation of federal Clean Water Act standards. Thanks to the chemicals, fertilizers, litter, and other pollutants that are picked up by rainwater from urban and developing areas upstream of Falls Lake, a significant portion of Wake County's water supply is severely contaminated. This problem has not gone unnoticed by Raleigh Mayor Meeker, the Wake Board of Commissioners, or Wake legislators. Yet the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources continues to drag its feet on developing a nutrient management strategy for Falls Lake, a delay supported by upstream communities like the City of Durham that will have to do much of the work to improve stormwater management and reduce the impact of new development on water quality. The Division of Water Quality was supposed to have finalized rules to clean up Falls Lake by this month. Now they want until July 2011. Considering the growth projections for Wake County, I don't think we can afford to wait that long. Not only do more people make more demands on our water supply, but more people mean more development, which leads to further impairment of the lake. I believe the time to act is now. Legislation is being discussed in the General Assembly that would extend the deadline for developing the rules to November 2010, which should be plenty of time, considering the stakeholder process to develop a plan for cleaning up the lake has been underway for almost a year. In addition, legislation to enact interim guidelines for municipalities and developers to improve stormwater management and protections for the Lake is being discussed. Both of these measures need to be passed before the end of the legislative session, else we risk further damage to the Falls Lake reservoir and the environment, and more a costly clean up when the rules are ready to be implemented.