Raleigh—The highly-controversial-turned-wildly-popular Jordan Lake cleanup bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk. Once the subject of fervent objections from local governments and developers, the Jordan Lake protection plan won approval from House lawmakers tonight by a vote of 108 to 9.
“After years of delay, the restoration of Jordan Lake is on the horizon, said Elizabeth Ouzts, Environment North Carolina State Director. “That means fewer fish kills and algae blooms, and better drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Triangle residents. It means canoeing, fishing, and swimming in Jordan Lake for generations to come.”
House Bill 239, Restore Water Quality in Jordan Reservoir, sponsored by Reps. Lucy Allen, Alice Bordsen, and Pryor Gibson, will reduce nitrogen and phosphorous by 35 percent in its uppermost portions.
B. Everett Jordan Reservoir is a popular recreational destination, and provides drinking water to nearly 400,000 in the Triangle. But excess nutrients plague the lake, and in 2002 it was added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of polluted waters.
Paved surfaces—of which there are many in the Jordan Lake watershed—serve as swift conduits for oil, pesticides, dirt, and other pollutants to flow straight into the lake and its tributaries. This polluted runoff contributes to more than two-thirds of the lake’s nutrient pollution.
In 2008, regulators finalized their plan to reduce nutrient pollution from urban runoff and other sources, including agricultural runoff and wastewater treatment plant discharges. Supporters of that plan outnumbered detractors ten to one.
But local governments upstream from the lake balked at the portion of the rules controlling polluted runoff from existing development—triggering the General Assembly’s involvement.
Led by Rep. Allen, house members forged a compromise that retains the bulk of the rules adopted by regulators, but delays certain pollution reduction requirements, and only requires measures that regulators determine are cost-effective.
The Jordan Lake plan, the first of its kind in the state, will impact restoration plans for other drinking water reservoirs in North Carolina. Rules governing Falls Lake, the drinking water source for the city of Raleigh, are in development now.
The House first passed the measure 106-8 last month, and the Senate adopted the measure unanimously last week.
Developers and DOT have both raised complaints about the Jordan Lake protection plan, and may yet seek weakening measures in separate bills before the General Assembly Adjourns.
“We applaud lawmakers for voting to give Jordan Lake the protection it needs,” said Ouzts. “We’re hopeful the developers and DOT won’t seek to weaken those protections in the eleventh hour.”
