| |
Yes I am that water is too alkaline and has too much chlorophyll, nitrogen and phosphorus for the good of the creatures that live in it, or for the
people who play in it and drink it.
In essence, the lake is not fully meeting its designated uses; those uses include recreation, aquatic habitat and human consumption.
In 2002 the Upper New Hope Arm reached federal standards for “impairment”, by 2005, N.C. Water Quality designated the entire lake "impaired" due to high levels
of nutrients -- primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, which lead to growth of algae that can render the water toxic to fish and unfit for swimming or drinking.
Federal and state law require remedial action for the reservoir now serving Chatham County, southern Wake, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville. Cleaning
up the lake could cost more than $1.2 billion. (article from the internet regarding Lake Jordon, used here for background to answer this question)
The major cause of this pollution is the development of our area. We need to be good stewards of our land and protect our water supply. That’s why on April 26th
I made the motion to reject the largest request to infringe our stream buffers in the history of the town. Cary leads the state with tough stream buffer requirements
for no development or encroachment for 100 feet either side of a stream. In April we had a developer ask to not only encroach the buffer but to actually pave over
two streams and pave to the edge of a third. I am proud that I was the person who made the motion to say NO, and 5 of the 6 members of council agreed with me. We
stood up to development pressure that was just too much density on too little land. The developer said they could not meet their goals without paving over the
streams. We said NO, if it does not fit you’re trying to build too much on too little land and we won’t compromise our water quality for you to do it. This is an
example of what I have already done to help protect our water supply.
Additionally Cary is one of the first towns to recycle and distribute our treated water for irrigation purposes. This reduces our need for water and help reduce
strain on the lake.
In the southwest area of Cary closest to the lake we are working to conserve natural land and use low impact development on the development that does occur.
These concepts reduce the major source of water pollution, runoff from reaching the streams and eventually the lake by using the soil to do what it does well,
filter and delay storm runoff to keep our water quality high. I will continue to fight for strict rules to be sure as we grow, we grow responsibly, and respect
or need to be good steward of our environment. |
|
