NC rejects proposal to help preserve land along Falls Lake

[TexasTowelie]

RALEIGH -- The state environmental department rejected a proposal by local governments to preserve land along Falls Lake because state officials say they’re not sure land conservation would prevent pollution-causing nutrients from entering the drinking-water source.

Falls Lake is considered impaired under the Clean Water Act because of its high nitrogen and phosphorus levels. The Upper Neuse River Basin Association, which represents Raleigh, Durham and 12 other municipalities, sought to prevent such nutrients from entering the lake by curbing development around it.

The state already has some rules for building in the Falls Lake watershed, which spans 770 square miles across the northern Piedmont. Developers and government members of the Upper Neuse watershed can build retention ponds or stormwater drainage systems to earn points under North Carolina’s “nutrient credit” system.

The number of credits a developer must earn before starting construction varies depending on the size of the project and its environmental impact. Currently, the state awards no credits for preserving land around Falls Lake.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article92957622.html

[retrowire]

1. they arent sure land conservation would protect the water?

I learn to hate my states government more and more everyday.

[appal_jack]

2. They are also unsure whether the water is, in fact, wet. k&r for absolute exasperation, nt.