State officials have proposed their long-awaited clean up plan for Falls Lake.  Modeled largely after the clean up plan for Jordan Lake Environment North Carolina backed in 2009, the plan will reduce pollution into the lake by as much as 70%.   Read more about the plan.

Unfortunately, some polluters are urging officials to allow part of the Lake to go on failing basic water quality standards.

Environment North Carolina is urging officials to require clean up of Falls Lake as soon as possible, and to make sure that all of the Lake, not just part of it, will meet water quality standards.

Thanks to the hundreds of you who submitted comments to state officials in support of a strong Falls Lake Clean-Up plan.  The public comment period is closed, but you can now tell your legislators that you support rapid clean up of all of Falls Lake.

The state is home to 1500 lakes, which provide drinking water along with places to swim, hike, and fish.

Falls Lake and Jordan Lake in the Triangle are prime examples—both popular recreation spots, and the source of drinking water for nearly a million residents in the region.

But pollution—primarily from rapid development—threatens both of these drinking water lakes. Last summer, after years of delay, and thanks to leadership from Sen. Bob Atwater and Rep. Lucy Allen, lawmakers finally acted to clean up Jordan Lake.

Falls Lake is the next major drinking water supply for officials to tackle.  Visited by more than 750,000 people each year for fishing, swimming, paddling and camping, Falls Lake supplies drinking water to eight other Wake county towns in addition to Raleigh.

But like Jordan Lake, Falls Lake is suffering from polluted runoff from development and agriculture.  Nutrient pollution is causing algae blooms and making the water more expensive to treat.

There’s no time to waste.  Developed land—the primary source of water pollution in the lake—is  estimated to increase by 50% and the population served by the watershed will increase by 50% in the next 25 years.

Environment North Carolina is working to get officials to finalize their clean-up plan for Falls Lake and to ensure that all of the Lake, not just a portion of it, will be required to meet basic water quality standards.