Raleigh Seeks Rules To Clean and Protect Falls Lake
The Raleigh City Council on Jan. 5 directed City staff to continue its attempts to protect and restore the water quality of Falls Lake. The lake, which is water source for more than 450,000 Wake County residents, was included in the 2008 Federal 303d list of impaired waters. In its most recent session, the North Carolina General Assembly extended the deadline under 2005 legislation requiring the Environmental Management Commission to develop and implement a Nutrient Management Strategy (NMS) for the reservoir. The implementing rules are to be in effect by January 15, 2011.
City officials find the first draft for proposed rules put forth last month by the State’s Division of Water Quality will not assure protection or restoration in a reasonable timeframe. Raleigh agrees with the draft rules’ “one lake, two stages” approach that makes the proposed rules apply to the entire lake and all jurisdictions draining to the lake and divides the rule implementation into two stages. For both stages, the dividing boundary between the Lower Lake and the Upper Lake is Highway 50.
However, the City of Raleigh objects to other fundamental aspects of the draft with a particular emphasis on the timeframe for restoring the Lake’s water quality. DWQ proposed achievement of stage 1 improvements by 2021 rather than within 5 years as Raleigh urged. Stage 1 is designed to protect Raleigh’s water supply, but restoration of the Lake’s water quality will not occur until the stage 2 rules are fully implemented. DWQ proposes the stage 2 restoration be extended until 2036 or later, as opposed to the full restoration by 2021 sought by Raleigh. Despite a legislative mandate to require reductions from all sources within 5 years, the draft rules did not include any reductions from state and federal lands or from the many failed or discharging septic tanks in the basin. Raleigh also expressed concern that the draft rules neither include a requirement to control fertilizer as is included in the Jordan Lake rules or specific rules for development in the highly erosive and fragile Triassic basin soils prevalent along the shores of the Upper Lake.
Declining Quality
The decline in Falls Lake’s water quality has been documented on a consistent basis by samplings at various locations by the City of Raleigh and its consultants, the North Carolina State Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, the United States Geological Survey and the North Carolina Division of Water Quality. The leading source of this deterioration has been identified as increased urbanization of the upper watershed. By way of example, the Upper Neuse River Basin Association has developed watershed models that indicate that Ellerbe Creek is discharging 75,800 pounds of Nitrogen and 9,640 pounds of Phosphorous annually into Falls Lake. This non-point source pollution will increase by nearly 25 percent if the watershed is developed to the full extent allowable under current regulations. It is also expected that development of the Ellerbe Creek watershed would nearly triple urban use from 1249 acres 3397 acres and increasing impervious surfaces by more than 27 percent.
The result of high nutrient loads such as these will lead to more frequent algae blooms and low dissolved oxygen levels in the lake that could result in extensive fish kills. High levels of nutrient pollutants also make water treatment much more costly. Of special concern is the content of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in the lake. TOC is produced by living organisms and is accumulated in Falls Lake from stormwater run off and promoted through the growth of algae or bacteria that thrive on nutrients from the run off. TOC components combine with chlorine, which is used to treat water, to create carcinogenic compounds. This process is called Disinfection By-Product (DBP) formation.
While the E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant is currently very successful in cleansing Falls Lake water of TOC problems through vigilant use of existing treatment processes and aggressive flushing of the City’s potable water distribution system, Raleigh’s Public Utilities staff warn that increased TOC at the plant will require the implementation of more sophisticated and much more expensive treatment methods. These new, advanced treatment processes use Activated Carbon or Magnetic Ion Exchange resin and could increase operational costs by 20 to 25% annually. This change to a more elaborate treatment method also would require capital construction projects that have a projected price tag of $120 million. To complicate the problem, new treatment technologies and infrastructure may not be installed without interfering with future water treatment plant expansion plans. This may necessitate an early increase in the water treatment plant’s capacity with a price tag of $243.9 million.
These exorbitant costs could be avoided, City officials say, if the State would implement rules that protect Falls Lake. City Staff stress that immediate action is needed to arrest the steady climb in TOC levels in Falls Lake; Raleigh officials fear contaminate levels will soon reach a point that could cause the new treatment processes to be constructed so as to be available when required.
Rules Process
DWQ will issue the complete set of draft rules for comment on Jan. 14, 2010. The Falls Lake stakeholder process will hold a final meeting on Jan. 21, at which DWQ will seek final comments and consensus from interested parties. The deadline for submitting comments on the draft rule package is Jan. 29. The draft rules, including any changes introduced as a result of the stakeholder comments, will be presented to the Water Quality Committee and the full Environmental Management Commission at its March 10-11 meeting. The rules will then be put out for public comments, beginning the formal Administrative Procedures Act process. The earliest likely publication date is May. A formal round of meetings to hear public comments will be held in June and July. The hearing officers will submit a final set of rules at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Environmental Management Commission. DWQ expects to complete rulemaking by Jan. 15, 2011, as required by State Law 2009-486.
City of Raleigh staff will continue to work with other interested parties and impacted local governments to craft rules that will fairly and uniformly protect water quality in Falls Lake.
Prepared by:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Kenneth Waldroup
Assistant Public Utilities Director
Public Utilities Department
One Exchange Plaza, Suite 620
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-857-4540
