![]() ![]() ![]() Under the Clean Water Act, North Carolina is required to clean up these pollutants. Since that time, the nutrient levels present in Jordan Lake have been above EPA standards. Since its creation water quality issues have plagued Jordan Lake, with the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission declaring the waters as nutrient-sensitive the same year it was created. This is what gives Jordan Lake the characteristic green color when seen from a boat or while in the water, compared to the water appearing blue when driving over it from say, a bridge. The algal blooms are not particularly dramatic at Jordan Lake, since much of it is in the water column itself, rather than in large blooms on the surface. Sometimes they are even large enough to reach deep into the center of the lake. They are the large mats of green slime that crowd around the edges of lakes. From 2011 to 2016, the National Land Cover Database estimated that developed land increased by almost 13% in the watershed, demonstrating the risk urbanization poses to ensuring water quality for generations to come. Of the remaining unprotected land, 70% are undeveloped lands that include forests, fields, farms and wetlands. Only 8% of the Jordan Lake watershed (about 88,000 acres) is protected from development. Both have seen significant growth and development over the last 40 years, which can degrade the quality of our drinking water as land is gobbled up to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population. The watershed encompasses some of the largest urban areas in North Carolina, namely the Triangle and the Triad. Shading represents the entire Jordan and Falls Lake watersheds. Nutrient load monitoring sites (LMSs) used to collect nutrient data for calibrating one of the models used in the NC Policy Collaboratory Nutrient Management Study, and major and minor wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are also shown. Jordan Lake is further split between the Haw River arm and New Hope arm. ![]() The lake and surrounding forests also provide critical habitat for plant and animal species and flood control for downstream regions. It provides clean drinking water for nearly 700,000 Triangle residents and recreation for a million visitors each year. Jordan Lake serves a mixture of purposes. For many Triangle residents, our drinking water springs from the Jordan Lake watershed, which is a 1,687 square mile area situated in the middle of North Carolina, stretching from Rockingham County to Wake County. Our drinking water resides in a watershed or a land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams and rivers into larger bodies of water like reservoirs or the ocean. The answer is as interconnected as the system of waterways that carry water to our faucet. We typically don’t consider where our tap water originates. How state government agencies, local governments, nonprofits and landowners are harnessing the power of land conservation to restore and protect drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Triangle residents.īy Mary Claire McCarthy Jordan Lake-Central water supply source, recreation haven, flood control measure and Bald Eagle sanctuary Shoreline at Jordan Lake ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |