By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
As a continuous rain provided by tropical depression Lee came down outside the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday night, discussion flowed inside about stormwater runoff.
Randy Dodd, Carrboro’s environmental planner, presented proposed changes to the state rules regarding permissible levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in stormwater runoff into Jordan Lake. Dodd also addressed the town’s plan to make sure these levels are being lowered.
The implementation of new state rules intended to clean up and restore Jordan Lake requires changes to Carrboro’s current stormwater program.
The evening’s discussion focused primarily on how the new rules will affect developments and how the town can effectively ensure that the levels it measures come exclusively from the town of Carrboro.
These new guidelines will require new development in the area to lower the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus released into water running into Jordan Lake and other watersheds, to adhere to what Dodd called “the most stringent requirements in North Carolina.â€
“It is important to note that these go above and beyond what we have now for stormwater requirements,†Dodd said.
Betsy Kempter, a member of the Friends of Bolin Creek, spoke to the board, saying she applauded efforts to clean up the creeks and Jordan Lake, but that she had a concern about how the town currently measures and monitors the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous it contributes.
“Cleaning up Jordan Lake is a really slow process and it is going to take a long time,†Kempter said. “It would be useful to know that the changes we make will drop phosphorous levels.â€
The town used to monitor nitrogen and phosphorous levels with water-quality tests performed monthly by the Town of Chapel Hill. But Chapel Hill stopped testing runoff water over a year ago because it didn’t believe it was getting the best results for the amount of money it was spending, which put a halt to Carrboro’s testing as well.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro are looking into better methods of testing runoff that would also take into consideration water levels and stream flow. Dodd said he hopes that the water-testing program will be restarted in the near future.
In view of the lack of current water tests on storm runoff, the board discussed the need to take measurements before the new stormwater rules are implemented, in order to distinguish Carrboro’s levels from those of Chapel Hill and Durham.
“It is a matter of figuring out what portion is Carrboro’s,†board member Sammy Slade said.
The board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution accepting the staff’s stormwater report and requested that staff look into water testing to determine a baseline for the current levels of nitrogen and phosphorous coming from Carrboro.