AGENDA #12
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 25, 2005
This report was referred from the April 5, 2005 Council meeting for further discussion and consideration by the Council. A section has been added that discusses the existing regulations in the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance as related to the requirements proposed in the Total Maximum Daily Load Nutrient Management Strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake.
The purpose of this report is to provide information regarding the Jordan Lake Non-point Source Pollution Management Strategy. The strategy was developed by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality.
We suggest that the 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 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 Manager will consider comments from the Stormwater Utility Advisory Board before seeking Council action on recommendations to be presented 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 Total Nitrogen, 1.1 lbs/acre/year Total Phosphorous 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.
Comparison of APPLICABLE Land Use Management Ordinance REGULATIONS and proposed total maximum daily load requirements
The current Land Use Management Ordinance includes performance standards for managing three general criteria associated with stormwater runoff:
1. Peak discharge rate
2. Water quality
3. Volume
The performance standards are applicable to all types of new development and re-development within the Town’s planning jurisdiction that involve 5000 square feet or more of land disturbance. These standards were adopted to meet the Town’s overall stormwater management objectives and the NPDES-Phase II permit requirements for water quality and pollution control. Although the Town’s existing stormwater management performance standards do result in reductions in total nitrogen and phosphorous entering streams and lakes, we do not believe that the reductions would be sufficient to achieve the TMDL limits proposed for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake.
We think that the Land Use Management Ordinance would need to be revised in the following areas to achieve compliance with the proposed TMDL requirements:
· Total Maximum Daily Load standards
Stricter regulation of new development would be necessary in the Land Use Management Ordinance to effectively reduce nutrient levels in stormwater runoff to the proposed limits of 4.1 lbs/ac/yr for total nitrogen and 1.1 lbs/ac/yr. for total phosphorus. More intense regulation of high density development would create the most net benefit, since higher density generally equates to higher levels of overall pollutant loading as compared to low density development.
· Existing development
The Land Use Management Ordinance generally does not require existing development to meet current standards (most existing development is “grandfathered” unless it is significantly altered). The Land Use Management Ordinance would likely need to include performance standards for existing development in order to meet the proposed nutrient loading limits. In most cases this would require retrofitting stormwater pollution control measures, which could be both expensive and challenging in many situations.
Other related issues include:
· Staffing and resource requirements
Adoption of the Land Use Management Ordinance created a significant increase in stormwater management requirements for land development and resultant increases in administrative and technical staff time necessary to implement the new regulations. It is difficult to assess the extent of the impacts on Town resources of the proposed TMDL requirements. However, it is reasonable to assume that expanded and more stringent regulatory requirements would require increased administrative, technical, and inspection time and resources from the Town to ensure compliance. We are unable to quantify the impacts at this time.
· Discussion issues for multi-jurisdictional stakeholder group
Stakeholder group(s) should discuss fiscal impacts, technical feasibility, levels of effort, shared responsibilities, coordination and distribution of information and data, potentials for “nutrient trading” within the watershed, credits, modeling, monitoring, and reporting issues. Only after such discussions can reasonable estimates be prepared of the impacts of the proposed TMDL requirements.
· Alternative strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake
The multi-jurisdictional workgroup could develop recommendations for an alternative Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake Watershed Nutrient Management Strategy based on the availability of local resources and the practical aspects of implementation by stakeholders. Such a strategy could include a combination of ordinance amendments, educational activities, modeling, nutrient trading, monitoring, and implementation of best management practices that would meet the proposed TMDL limits for the watershed.
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. The report and recommendations will be distributed for public comment once some minor corrections are completed. 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 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and the proposed Nutrient Loading Limits and Control Strategy for Jordan Lake and its Watershed from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m. A copy of the announcement is attached.
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. The state intends to receive comments from the public during a period likely to last through late 2005, when the rules would be drafted for consideration by the Environmental Management Commission.
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 and that the Town would benefit from this collaboration.
NEXT STEPS
MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION
We recommend adoption of the attached resolution that would designate the Manager or his designee to represent the Town in developing draft stakeholder comments and recommendations for Council’s consideration regarding the proposed Total Maximum Daily Load Nutrient Management Strategy for the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake. Town comments will be reviewed by the Stormwater Utility Advisory Board prior to final action by the Council. Final stakeholder comments and recommendations would be submitted as a report to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee for consideration.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Map of Local Jurisdictions and Basins of the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake (p. 9).
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 (2005-04-25/R-13)
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 Counties are located within the Upper New Hope Arm of the Jordan Lake watershed; and
WHEREAS, the proposed nutrient loading reduction target for the Upper New Hope Arm portion of Jordan Lake 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 25th day of April, 2005.