Falls Lake rules represent a significant missed opportunity. The Triangle and surrounding municipalities had the chance to re-write stormwater regulations, setting a national standard for drinking water supply conservation and protection. As a leader in population growth and the most educated region in the nation, our community should have higher water pollution prevention standards than those offered in the recently proposed Falls cleanup rules.
The real challenge lies ahead as upstream interests and the NC General Assembly may move to weaken the rules prior to implementation:
“The rules take effect Jan. 15 but must still be cleared with the state Rules Review Commission to ensure that they comply with existing law. They remain subject to legislators’ intervention during the 2011 session.
The rules affect new and existing development, agriculture, forestry, wastewater treatment and discharge. With that many interests involved, Durham County Manager Drew Cummings said, “I’d be hard-pressed to imagine” some won’t press legislators to intervene.
Karen Rindge, executive director of the conservationist WakeUp Wake County, called the approved rules a disappointment.
“This is a real missed opportunity,” Rindge said. “Falls Lake is one of the most polluted, if not the most polluted, for chlorophyll A in the state.”
Rindge said WakeUp Wake County isn’t planning a push for intervention. But the group will be watching out for anyone trying to lessen rules they consider already weakened and leaving loopholes for developers, cities and agriculture.
For one thing, she said, 10 years is too long to complete stage one.
“That’s really dragging out what should be the easy stuff to do,” she said.
- Read more: Raleigh water will be safer, but others feel Falls’ pinch, News & Observer, 11/29/10