Lessons Learned from North Carolina's Falls Lake: A Regional, Collaborative Approach to Meet Nutrient Reduction Requirements

Lessons Learned from North Carolina's Falls Lake: A Regional, Collaborative Approach to Meet Nutrient Reduction RequirementsAbstractPURPOSE New England communities will soon need to fund nutrient reduction projects to meet stricter regulatory requirements. Since 2011, jurisdictions within Falls Lake watershed in North Carolina have been regulated under a similarly stringent Nutrient Management Strategy for nitrogen/phosphorus. Jurisdictions found meeting these requirements difficult or infeasible. We discuss how a coalition of rural towns, larger cities, and counties collaborated to fund water quality improvements and coordinated with State regulators toward solutions that work for all. DESCRIPTION MS4 communities, such as those within the Charles River, Mystic River, and Great Bay Estuary watersheds, must significantly reduce phosphorous and nitrogen loads to meet Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements of the Clean Water Act. Funding these costly nutrient reduction efforts, against competing priorities of replacing aging drainage infrastructure and building climate resiliency, will benefit from a collaborative and innovative approach. Since 2011, jurisdictions within the Falls Lake watershed in North Carolina have been regulated under the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy ('Falls Rules'). Through phased implementation, the Falls Rules aim to reduce nutrient inputs to the lake from wastewater discharges, agriculture, state and federal facilities, and stormwater runoff from new and existing development. For the first stage of the Existing Development Rules, each jurisdiction was required to eliminate their nutrient load from development that occurred between 2007 and 2012 - a significant challenge given that site conditions and development plans were not closely tracked during this period. Achieving 'fair' nutrient load reduction estimates became difficult or infeasible for some communities, and the Rules were delayed. As a venue to discuss solutions to Falls Rules implementation challenges (among other benefits), most regulated entities within the affected watershed participate in the Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA), a regional non-profit organization focused on promoting water quality and facilitating constructive conversation among stakeholders. To support reasonable adjustments to the Falls Rules and promote the long-term health of the lake, UNRBA has conducted its own watershed and water quality monitoring and modeled various regulatory and management pathways to water quality improvement. Among these pathways, UNRBA, together with local regulatory and academic input, conducted a series of studies to expand the approved set of nutrient removal credit practices for both municipalities and private property owners. However, it was not feasible to meet nutrient reduction targets with credits alone. So, the group also designed the Interim Alternative Implementation Approach (IAIA), which focuses on a collaborative, voluntary, investment-driven participation to meet individual compliance while achieving water quality improvement. Through UNRBA's transparent process, the design of the IAIA earned support from numerous stakeholders, including regulators, and is in the process of being administratively included as an approach to achieving compliance with Stage 1 of the Rules. As the Falls Rules were going into effect in 2011, a group of five jurisdictions in the region recognized the need for increased, sustainable funding and embarked on a joint effort to create stormwater utilities to begin collecting stormwater user fee revenues. These fees fund current and future program requirements, especially those related to Rules compliance. The collaborative approach leverages efficiencies in utility administration and representation in interactions with regulators and ensures a consistent approach to applying the Rules' requirements. All five jurisdictions are currently active members of the UNRBA, contributing toward funding UNRBA's work and participating in the technical and administrative decision-making processes. BENEFITS OF PRESENTATION This case study presents many transferrable approaches and lessons learned to benefit other municipalities and non-profit organizations facing stringent TMDL requirements in New England and beyond. CONCLUSION Policy and funding collaboration among five jurisdictions and a non-profit organization resulted in an alternative compliance mechanism with TMDL rules set out by the State of North Carolina.This paper was presented at the WEF Collection Systems and Stormwater Conference, April 9-12, 2024.SpeakerTchamkina, MaryPresentation time14:00:0014:30:00Session time13:30:0015:00:00SessionCollaborative InitiativesSession number05Session locationConnecticut Convention Center, Hartford, ConnecticutTopicConstruction, Funding, Green Infrastructure, Laboratory Methods And Analysis, Program Management, Public Utility, Rates, Stormwater Control Measure, TMDLs, Water Quality, Watershed ManagementTopicConstruction, Funding, Green Infrastructure, Laboratory Methods And Analysis, Program Management, Public Utility, Rates, Stormwater Control Measure, TMDLs, Water Quality, Watershed ManagementAuthor(s)Tchamkina, MaryAuthor(s)M. Tchamkina1, C. Conchilla1, E. Scerbo2Author affiliation(s)Raftelis 1; Tighe & Bond Inc. 2SourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Apr 2024DOI10.2175/193864718825159382Volume / Issue Content sourceCollection Systems and Stormwater ConferenceCopyright2024Word count17