Public Meetings Set To Discuss Falls Lake Pollution

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Falls Lake, Wake County

The Environmental Management Commission, or EMC, has scheduled two hearings to gather public input on proposed rules to reduce nutrient pollution in the Falls Lake Reservoir.

The public comment period is open until Aug. 16.

Falls Lake Reservoir, the primary drinking water source for Raleigh and several nearby communities, is impaired for excessive amounts of chlorophyll a, an indicator of high levels of nutrients. Nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, can be carried by stormwater runoff into Falls Lake and the watershed streams that feed it. While nutrients are beneficial to aquatic plant and animal life in the proper quantities, excessive levels can cause algae blooms that impair aquatic habitat and may lead to fishkills, increase the cost of treatment for drinking water and affect recreational activities. In 2005, the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation which requires the EMC to adopt a nutrient strategy for Falls Lake.

In 2008, stakeholders from local governments, agriculture, environmental groups and other concerns began work with the N.C. Division of Water Quality to formulate a nutrient management strategy. The stakeholders used three years of lake watershed data and subsequent modeling to help form the nutrient management strategy. The draft rules were approved for public comment by the EMC in March 2010.