By: Cara McDonough
PITTSBORO -- The town, in cooperation with a group
from N.C. State University, is working to make a park with trails,
soccer fields and a lake, a nicer place to visit.
Not just for human residents, but for the frogs, salamanders, bugs,
plants and microorganisms that inhabit the area. And if the project is
successful, it will make town waterways healthier than they've been in
a long time.
The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners on Monday night gave a group from
the N.C. State Stream Restoration Program the go-ahead to begin
developing plans to make improvements in Town Lake Park, located
southwest of town within town limits.
The group, funded with state money, has been working on the project for
several years since the N.C. State University Water Quality Group
obtained a grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund to perform
a detailed study of the lake's condition and possible restoration
alternatives in 2003.
The lake in question -- made of an upper and lower portion -- is part
of the Robeson Creek watershed. Both Robeson Creek, a creek that runs
through town and flows into the lake, and the lake are on the state's
"impaired" list for excessive nutrients, biological degradation and
aquatic weeds. The proposed project aims to get the waterways off the
list and back to a healthy state.
The basic plan is a stream restoration, said Catherine Deininger, who
works for the local nonprofit Haw River Assembly and is also a member
of the Robeson Creek Watershed Council, a group of federal, state and
local agencies, as well as businesses and non-profits that meet
regularly to discuss issues. "We've been working in the Robeson Creek
watershed for six years, and whenever we talk to the community the
thing that they really are interested in seeing is something done with
Town Lake," she said in an interview Tuesday. "It's obvious there's a
problem there. It's an eyesore."
The problem is that the lake, polluted with nutrients like phosphorus
and choked with weeds, is a reservoir for stagnant water, Deininger
said.
That's why the N.C. State group's plan involves turning the upper
portion of the lake into a moving part of the stream and turning the
area in general into a wetland. Robeson Creek will flow through the
upper portion of the lake and then enter the lower portion.
"In returning it to a stream and creating a wetland, we'll end up
adding a lot of vegetation that can help in uptake with that
phosphorous," said Deininger.
Some community members, hearing the word "wetland," become concerned
about creating a habitat for mosquitoes, she said, but the truth is
that the lake's current, stagnant state is far worse. Getting the water
moving will mean a healthier environment for everyone, including
dragonflies, which eat mosquitoes.
Although the project is still in the planning stages, Deininger called
the recent developments and town board approval "exciting."
Pittsboro town planner David Monroe said Tuesday that the N.C. State
group's project, once underway, will be beneficial enough that the
state can remove the impaired status from the watershed.
"The state is willing to put money into Robeson Creek because they've
identified it as a real possibility for success," said Monroe.
