DURHAM -- Raleigh's polluted water supply would be restored to standard quality within 10 years, under a draft set of Falls Lake Rules drawn up by the state Division of Water Quality.
But Raleigh environmental coordinator Ed Buchan sounded a note of caution Thursday: "We have a long way to go before we get any final rules in place."
The draft sets out a nine-point, two-stage program to reduce the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that make the lake "impaired" under state and federal water-quality standards. The pollutants increase Raleigh's cost and difficulty in treating the water for human consumption.
But the rules also affect 12other cities, counties and water authorities across the lake's 700-square mile watershed. Much of Falls Lake lies in Durham County, and its most-polluted tributaries flow through Durham. Durham officials have been particularly critical of the rulemaking process aimed at cleaning up Falls Lake because it has been done in haste to meet the Jan. 15, 2011, deadline set by the legislature last year, and because the rules are based on less-than-optimal data.
That concern, though, has more to do with the rules' second stage, said environmental lawyer Steve Levitas. Levitas is representing the city of Durham in negotiations about the cleanup plan. Stage Two would have the upper lake, including Durham's portion, restored by 2036, but whether that portion can be restored to meet federal standards is questionable because of the lake's particular characteristics.
But it is Stage One that would restore water quality in the lake's lower, less-polluted section near Raleigh's water-treatment plant. On that, Levitas said, Raleigh, Durham, and state water quality officials are "very close to a consensus."
"We've kind of got the blinders on with Stage One," Buchan said. "The key word here is speed. If we do not see water-quality improvement in the lower end of the lake, by our intake, quickly - we would be required to spend a lot of money to upgrade our water plant."
