Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:36:05 +0000
From: Brian Bock
Subject: Jordan Lake water quality protection
Senate Bill 515, Jordan Lake Water Quality Act, has moved from the NC Senate to the NC House. The bill would roll back and eventually eliminate the “Jordan Lake Rules” put in place to protect the quality of Jordan Lake. The rules are the result of a very long stake holder process to develop nutrient reduction strategies for the lake and the waters that flow into it.
The Chatham County commissioners, recognizing the important role these rules play in protecting our lake, unanimously voted to implement them two years earlier than required by law. Some of our upstream neighbors have not done so and if SB 515 passes, they never will.
I am a conservative republican who is always concerned about overreaching regulations that stifle growth and infringe on property rights. The Jordan Lake rules do not fall into this category. I have spoken to countless citizens, builders, developers, political groups, and environmentalist throughout the county about these rules. Not one group or individual has expressed to me that they feel these rules go too far or are ineffective.
We have been working very hard at the county level to develop a balanced approach to our regulations that will protect property rights, protect our environment, and encourage economic development. We have made great progress but we can’t do it alone. We need the help of the legislature. The elected house representatives from the Triangle area “get it” and are opposed to the bill as well.
I’ve written and called members and encourage you to do so as well. I’ve asked that if there are sections of the rules that need to be amended, concentrate on those rather than discard everything.
Members of the Committee for the Environment want and need to hear from us and be reminded of how important protecting the lake from upstream pollution is to Chatham and surrounding counties.
Sincerely,
Brian Bock
Chatham County Commissioner
To Chatham County Commissioner Bock,
For reasons published recently by the Chatham Fhatlist on behalf of the NC Farm Coalition, repealing the Jordan Lake Rules promises disaster for residents within all Piedmont counties who rely upon safe, healthy, clean water. That the 2009 Rules are even being considered for revision is another black mark for leaders of our state. Please denounce the proposed revisions. Or otherwise explain to us how 195 experts who unanimously testified about the need for such could have been wrong?
The NC Farm Coalition has represented 10,000+ citizens who have been irreparably harmed to date by NC’s laws, harm that is expected to continue into the future arising from continuing unrestrained development and consequential harm to the Jordan and Falls Lake watersheds which serve the Piedmont’s 17 counties.