Joint goals set on Falls cleanup

DURHAM -- Raleigh, Durham and several other jurisdictions have reached a meeting of the minds on Falls Lake.

Though their respective city councils and county commissioners have yet to sign off, officials of 11 Triangle-area governments approved "consensus principles" for cleaning up the polluted reservoir at a meeting Tuesday of the Triangle J Council of Governments.

"We are prepared to recommend them to our boards," Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen said.

The 12 principles prescribe measures to bring water quality at Raleigh's intake to acceptable standards within 10 years and call for revisions to the regulations if water-quality monitoring in the lake and its tributaries shows they're needed.

"It's a lot of give and take," Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin said. "I think we feel about as good about it as we can feel. We've done what's best for the watershed."

The consensus resolves conflicts between jurisdictions, especially Durham and Raleigh, over the speed and scope of Falls' cleanup.

"It's an example of regionalism at its best," Durham Mayor Bill Bell said.

Cary Mayor Pro Tem Julie Robinson said the cooperation could be a model for other jurisdictions.

The state Division of Water Quality is preparing an analysis of the cleanup's financial effects on communities in the lake's 700-square-mile watershed. Experience with similar cleanup plans for Jordan Lake indicate that costs will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The final strategy for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in Falls Lake and for maintaining the lake at acceptable standards will be written and approved by the Division of Water Quality and Environmental Management Commission.

Besides Durham city and county, Raleigh and Person County, representatives of Wake, Orange and Granville counties and of Hillsborough, Creedmoor, Butner and the South Granville Water and Sewer Authority confirmed their agreement Tuesday.

Among other points, the agreement requires federal and state agencies, such as the N.C. Department of Transportation, to abide by the same standards for pollution control as local governments. And it calls for a cooperative water authority to coordinate monitoring, recommend revisions to the cleanup program and keep communication open among affected areas.