Devils to face former center

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Lake cleanup may lead to 'catfight'

Durham and Raleigh will end up in a "catfight" unless their officials can agree on sharing the costs of Falls Lake's cleanup, Assistant City Attorney Karen Sindelar told the Durham City Council Thursday.

How high those costs could be depends on the cleanup rules currently under development by the state Division of Water Quality. A draft set is expected before the end of the year.

During the 2009 General Assembly session, Raleigh officials pressed for an early deadline for the rules' approval. Falls Lake provides drinking water for 435,000 Wake County residents.

Forum tackles Falls Lake

Officials from Raleigh and Durham, Durham County and Wake County got together Tuesday to talk about Falls Lake.

They agreed on several points:

All parties are doing good things for the environment.

Falls plan can wait to 2011, Durham says

The Durham County Board of Commissioners went on the record Monday favoring a deadline "not later than November 2011" for the state's cleanup plan for Falls Lake.

County Manager Mike Ruffin said Durham County legislators, particularly state Sen. Floyd McKissick, were anxious for Durham's city and county governments to take positions on the Falls cleanup deadline. A bill to set the deadline was scheduled for a Senate committee hearing today and could come to a vote this week.

Wake County and the Raleigh City Council support a deadline of July 1, 2010. But the state Department of Water Quality, which is responsible for proposing cleanup regulations, has asked for a deadline of November 2011. Its original deadline was July 1 of this year.

Get cracking on Falls

In the disagreement between Raleigh and Durham over the pace of a badly needed Falls Lake cleanup, Durham has the upper hand, literally. It's upstream from the lake, and it doesn't draw upon it for drinking water. But could there be a more obvious example of why, when it comes to keeping reservoirs clean, the best policy is to do unto others as you'd have them do unto you?

Durham faced a similar dilemma with nearby Jordan Lake, which is one of its drinking water sources. The city wasn't thrilled about a costly cleanup regime, but it stood to benefit if upstream pollution was reduced.

Now the question is how soon the state will be required to have the rules for a Falls Lake cleanup in place. A July 1 deadline was missed. State officials want an extension until late 2011; Raleigh says to get it done by July 1 next year. Durham favors the summer of 2011. The legislature is trying to sort things out.

Cities may haggle over Falls Lake

Durham and Raleigh will end up in a "catfight" unless their officials can agree on sharing the costs of Falls Lake's cleanup, Assistant City Attorney Karen Sindelar told the Durham City Council on Thursday.

How high those costs could be depends on cleanup rules under development by the state Division of Water Quality. A draft set is expected before the end of the year.

Sindelar's comment came during a presentation on the implications for Durham of the recently enacted Jordan Lake rules and those to come for Falls.