Jordan Lake compromise expected to hold in Senate - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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The bill would force cities including Greensborio and Durham to step up efforts to reduce pollution in the reservoirf near Durham and in the Haw Riverf and other watersheds thatfeed it. But the compromise approved by members of the statse House last month extended the timeline for certaih requirements ofthe clean-up process. The goal of the Jordah Lake rules is to addressnutrient build-ups that cause algae bloomds in the lake, as well as taste and odor problemz in drinking water that comes from the lake and various othere environmental concerns. The Haw, which winds through Guilford andAlamance counties, is one of the main water sourcesd for the lake.
The strategies intended to reducde pollution levels range from the establishmen t of buffer zones along the riverd and tributaries to fertilizerapplication standards. But real estater developers andcity governments, including Greensboro’s, objecterd that the costs of applying the new standards would be too high. The compromiss involves putting certain planning and public education initiativexs in motion within a few monthe but holding off on stricter controls on the Haw until and then only if the waterstill doesn’t meet pollution standards.
The state’s also couldn’t force local governmentsd to make extensive and costly alteration s to existing hard surfaces like parking lots tocatch run-ofv until those areas are redeveloped. “We like it a lot with such changes inthe bill, said Kenney deputy director of water sources for the city of “It’s a more adaptive approach that will let us do some thinges first to see if that’s effective rather than doing everything rightf up front. It givea us more time to plan.
” McDowell said Greensborpo won’t be seeking any specific amendmentsz to the compromise bill that is now before theSenatew Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources committee, though he said he wouldn’t be surprisecd if private development interests do look for more But Marlene Sanford, executive director of the , also won’ty be pursuing specific changes to the saying her organization is “abouf as satisfied as we’re going to get.” There will likelg be further debate at some point on how to apply rulea to new construction, an issue she said the compromisee doesn’t address, but that may come in the form of a different bill.
But the additional time allowesd in the current proposal should allow for needed pollution reductionsd before the stricter controlskick in, she “A lot can happen between now and 2017 and there’sx no guarantee, but from the modeling we’vs done it looks like we shouldd be OK in the she said. Elizabeth Ouzts, state director for EnvironmenyNorth Carolina, has been lobbying from the othedr side of the table throughout the lengthy negotiations with She said she preferred the original version of the bill but does not inten to try to walk the compromise back at this point.
“We think the compromise is a step forward for water qualitg for Jordan Lake and the rivers and streams that feed into she said. “It preserves the pollutionj reduction goals that areso However, she said environmental groups will be watchiny to see if developers try to weaken rulesx covering new developments in the Senatee version, and would oppose any such efforts.