It all comes down to the lake.
The Jordan Lake watershed stretches from Greensboro east to Durham and Apex. It is home to nearly a million people, with more arriving every day. Each year, the lake receives over 12 million visits from people coming to the lake to swim, fish, sail, or just watch herons and eagles soar over the water. In addition, Jordan Lake is a source of drinking water for over 100,000 people.
We’ve not taken good care of the lake. Rain that falls anywhere in the watershed, and wastewater discharged into upstream creeks, eventually flows down to Jordan Lake. High levels of pollution – from wastewater plants and from runoff – are causing algal blooms and extreme chemical conditions in the lake. The problem isn’t limited to the lake itself; virtually every town upstream has a creek that has been damaged by pollution.
We can fix this. The federal Clean Water Act requires that everyone who contributes to the problem help solve it by reducing the pollution going into the lake. The NC Environmental Management Commission has proposed a package of rules that will require upgrades at a number of wastewater treatment plants, and will require better controls of runoff from new and existing development.
We all need to do our part to clean up Jordan Lake. Now.