AGENDA #4c
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Jordan Lake Non-Point Source Nutrient Management Strategy Update and Authorization to Participate in a Multi-Jurisdictional Stakeholder Group
DATE: April 5, 2005
This report provides information regarding the Jordan Lake Non-point Source Pollution Management Strategy. The strategy was developed by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality. This report recommends that the Town Manager or his designee represent Chapel Hill in discussions with a multi-jurisdictional stakeholder group of the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake. This staff-level group has met on one occasion at the request of the Orange County Board of Commissioners and it was determined by the group that further discussion was warranted. The purpose of the stakeholder group is to discuss issues and develop comments and recommendations regarding a Total Maximum Daily Load Nutrient Management Strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake watershed. This watershed includes the Town of Chapel Hill and its planning jurisdiction. The attached map indicates the basin limits and other affected jurisdictions for the Nutrient Management Strategy.
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the Town Manager or his designee to represent the Town in developing stakeholder comments and recommendations for submittal to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission. These comments will concern a Total Maximum Daily Load Nutrient Management Strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake watershed. The Town Manager will seek the advice of the Stormwater Utility Advisory Board before Council action on the recommendations to the Environmental Management Commission.
We recommend adoption of the attached resolution.
BACKGROUND
The Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as portions of the City of Durham and unincorporated Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, are located within the watershed of the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake. Please see the map provided in Attachment #1. Excess nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus from both point source and non-point source pollution contribute to excess algal growth in Jordan Lake.
In 2002, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality placed the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake on its 303(d) list of impaired Waters of the State. The Division of Water Quality committed to identifying a Total Maximum Daily Load for nutrients that would achieve the water quality criteria for chlorophyll a (an indicator of excess algal growth in lakes).
A breakdown of both point and non-point sources of nitrogen and phosphorus loadings in Jordan Lake, and the target reductions, are listed below. These data come from the B. Everett Jordan Lake Total Maximum Daily Load Watershed Model developed by Tetra Tech, Inc. in 2003.
Total Nitrogen – target reduction is 35%:
Point Source
Contributions = 32%
Non-point Source Contributions = 68%.
Point Source Contributions = 45%
Non-point Source Contributions = 55%
(The non-point nitrogen sources are 10% agricultural, 39% residential, 21% commercial/industrial, 19% forestry, and 11% other sources.)
Total Phosphorus – target reduction is 5%:
· For the entire lake:
Point Source
Contributions = 16%
Non-point Source Contributions = 84%.
· For the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake:
Point Source Contributions = 18%
Non-point Source Contributions = 82%
(The non-point phosphorous sources are 17% agricultural, 29% residential, 18% commercial/industrial, 19% forestry, and 17% other sources.)
DISCUSSION
The Upper Jordan Lake stakeholders include several jurisdictions having a variety of interests in the Upper Jordan Lake watershed. Stakeholder jurisdictions are: Town of Chapel Hill, Town of Carrboro, City of Durham, Durham County, Orange County and Chatham County.
The North Carolina Division of Water Quality and Tetra Tech, Inc. developed the Jordan Lake Nutrient Response Model to simulate nutrient impacts on Jordan Lake based on predicted nutrient loading from its various watersheds.
The Jordan Lake model predicts that increases in point and non-point source nutrient loads will further degrade lake water quality. The model predicts that without proper nutrient management, the projected population growth and economic development in the Jordan Lake watersheds will further threaten the lake’s ability to support its designated uses as a regional drinking water supply, recreational resource, and aquatic habitat.
The Triangle J Council of Governments and the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments collaborated in creating the Jordan Lake Stakeholder Project to:
· provide a framework for addressing these issues and concerns and
· assist the North Carolina Division of Water Quality and the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission in developing total maximum daily loads, nutrient targets, and nutrient management strategies for Jordan Lake.
Stakeholder work groups assisted State agencies in drafting total maximum daily load targets for Jordan Lake. The Division of Water Quality modified and updated the model and used it to develop reduction targets. Division staff provided information to the stakeholder group throughout the development process and posed questions to the group to solicit comments that could help guide Division staff in its decision making process. The stakeholder group also provided input on implementation of the total maximum daily load. The target for the Haw River portion of the lake is 8% total nitrogen reduction and 5% total phosphorous reduction. The target for the Upper New Hope Arm of the lake is 35% total nitrogen reduction and 5% total phosphorous reduction.
The middle and lower portions of the New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake currently support their intended uses and are not considered impaired. However, both the State and the stakeholders are concerned that present conditions could deteriorate in these high-use portions of the lake, if nutrients are not adequately managed in the Upper New Hope and Haw River portions.
The following information lists key non-point source management strategies being considered for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake, and comments on the impacts of these strategies on the Town of Chapel Hill.
1. Buffer Protection would require 50 feet of vegetative cover surrounding intermittent and perennial streams, lakes and water-bodies.
Comment: The Town’s existing Resource Conservation District Ordinance requirements currently exceed this.
2. NPDES Phase II Stormwater Permit would require all jurisdictions in Jordan Lake watersheds to obtain an NPDES Phase II permit.
Comment: The Town of Chapel Hill has applied for and expects to obtain an NPDES Phase II Permit.
3. New Development and Re-development would require new development and re-development activities to achieve and maintain net annual nitrogen and phosphorous loading not in excess of average loadings for given land uses. These terms are defined in the Land Use Management Ordinance. [4.1 lbs/acre/year TN, 1.1 lbs/acre/year TP]
Comment: We believe it would create a new administrative burden to verify loading rates initially and would require a continuous obligation to confirm that standards are maintained over time. We also believe that reducing loading rates to the Division of Water Quality recommended levels from these development sites would be both technically and fiscally challenging. We have not yet identified other specific impacts on Town resources that would result from this requirement, if adopted. Therefore, we believe it would be prudent to enter into discussions with other stakeholders to make this determination and report our findings to the Council.
4. Existing Development would require each jurisdiction contributing to Jordan Lake watersheds to analyze its existing land uses and to identify and implement best management practices necessary to achieve and maintain net annual nitrogen and phosphorous loading not in excess of average loadings for given land uses. [4.1 lbs/acre/year TN, 1.1 lbs/acre/year TP or 35% reduction]
Comment: We believe this requirement would present the most significant challenge for the Town and other stakeholders with respect to reducing nutrient loading rates. We also believe the impact on Town resources necessary for identification and implementation of measures to meet the required standards would be greater than that for Strategy #3 above. We have not yet identified these specific impacts resulting from this requirement, if adopted. Therefore, we believe it would be prudent to enter into discussions with the stakeholders to make this determination and report our findings to Council.
5. Adaptive Management would require jurisdictions to provide annual progress reports to the State on controlling nutrient loadings from both agricultural and non-agricultural land.
Comment: We have not yet identified specific impacts on Town resources that would result from this requirement, if adopted. Therefore, we believe it would be prudent to enter into discussions with other stakeholders to make this determination and report our findings to the Council.
Other nutrient management strategies in the watershed include those for agriculture, forestry, onsite wastewater treatment systems, and spray-field irrigation.
On March 9, 2005, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee met and received a report from the Division of Water Quality concerning the Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Strategy. We expect the recommendations to be distributed for public comment following some report corrections. The Division of Water Quality has scheduled a public meeting on May 2, 2005, at the Alamance Community College in Graham. This meeting agenda includes a discussion on the Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan and the Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Strategy.
CONCLUSION
We think that it is important for the Town to actively participate as a stakeholder in an Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake multi-jurisdictional work group to discuss issues, develop strategies and coordinate responses to the State.
As a part of the Chapel Hill Stormwater Management Utility development, the Town Council requested that staff work on a multi-jurisdictional level to discuss stormwater management issues of concern to our region of the state. We believe the Jordan Lake stakeholder group serves this purpose well.
MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION
The Manager recommends adoption of the attached resolution that would designate the Town Manager or his designee to represent the Town in developing draft stakeholder comments and recommendations for Council’s consideration. Town comments will be reviewed by the Stormwater Utility Advisory Board prior to Council action on the comments. The other elected bodies of the stakeholder group would receive the same information for their review and comment. Final stakeholder comments and recommendations would be submitted as a report to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee regarding total maximum daily loads and a Nutrient Management Strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake watershed.
NEXT STEPS
ATTACHMENT
1. Map of Local Jurisdictions and Basins of the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake (p. 7).
A RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THE TOWN MANAGER OR HIS DESIGNEE AS THE TOWN’S AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE IN THE JORDAN LAKE MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL STAKEHOLDER GROUP AND TO REPRESENT THE TOWN IN DISCUSSIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION PERTAINING TO THE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD STANDARDS FOR JORDAN LAKE. (2005-04-05/R-3)
WHEREAS, in 2002, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality placed the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake on the 303(d) list of impaired waters and committed to developing a Total Maximum Daily Load standard for nutrients for that portion of Jordan Lake; and
WHEREAS, in 2003, stakeholder groups were established to work with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality and Environmental Management Commission to develop the Total Maximum Daily Load nutrient standards and a Nutrient Management Strategies for Jordan Lake watersheds; and
WHEREAS, the planning jurisdictions of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as portions of the City of Durham and unincorporated areas in Durham, Orange and Chatham County are located within the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake watershed; and
WHEREAS, the proposed nutrient loading reduction target for the Upper New Hope Arm portion of Lake Jordan is 35% total nitrogen reduction and 5% total phosphorous reduction; and
WHEREAS, the Upper New Hope Arm stakeholder work group will continue to discuss issues and will prepare comments regarding the proposed nutrient standards and strategies for submittal to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Town Manager is designated as the Town’s authorized representative in the Jordan Lake multi-jurisdictional stakeholder work group and to represent the Town in discussions and correspondence with the State of North Carolina Environmental Management Commission pertaining to nutrient management strategies and Total Maximum Daily Load standards for Jordan Lake.
This the 5th day of April, 2005.