A legacy worth protecting
In the Triangle, Jordan Lake is a favorite among area residents and tourists for fishing, swimming, and hiking—a place where Tar Heels can escape the growing world of concrete, strip malls and housing sprawl. What’s more, the lake provides clean drinking water to more than 120,000 Wake, Durham, and Chatham County residents. But growth and development is beginning to take its toll.
Now state officials are planning to clean up and provide protections for Jordan Lake. Environment North Carolina is working to make those protections a reality—to save Jordan Lake, and to set the stage for how other lakes across the state will be restored.
Explosive, unplanned growth threatens our lake
Scientists first identified pollution problems in Jordan Lake in 1997, causing state leaders to demand clean up and protection of the reservoir. But since then, pollution problems have gotten worse, not better. Some of the cities that discharge treated sewage into the lake argued against additional protections, stalling new regulations.
Meanwhile, development did not slow up. In the past five years, more than 20 new developments—housing a total of 20,000 new residents—have begun or applied to begin construction in the area surrounding Jordan Lake. And since 1985, development near the lake has more than doubled.
All of this uncontrolled development has led to more polluted runoff and more treated sewage discharges into the lake—causing excessive algae, increasing the costs of treating drinking water, and threatening the lake’s ability to sustain fishing and swimming for the years to come.
Restore and protect Jordan Lake
North Carolina’s environmental
officials are finally moving forward to clean up and protect Jordan Lake for future
generations.
Their proposed rule would maintain existing vegetative buffers around the lake and its tributaries to filter out pollutants. It would require measures throughout the area draining into Jordan Lake to control runoff pollution from new development. Finally, it would also help limit runoff and sewage pollution from existing developments.
Setting an example
Of course, Jordan Lake is by no means the only water-body that suffers from development-related pollution -- but it is one of the few that's been tested properly, bringing to light the real impact of development on our waterways. A strong clean-up plan for Jordan Lake will not only safeguard a treasured Triangle resource; it will set the standard for protecting lakes across North Carolina.
It’s time to protect Jordan Lake
State officials are proposing a rule to restore and protect Jordan Lake, but opponents of the plan, including sewage dischargers and some big developers, are pushing to weaken and delay the measure.
Environment North Carolina is calling on the Environmental Management Commission to move a plan forward that will: maintain vegetative buffers around the lake and its tributaries; require development near the lake to limit polluted runoff; and limit additional sewage pollution into the lake.