A Report on Water Quality to the Citizens of Durham The State of Our Streams: 2006 Water quality, from the stream to the tap, affects us all. We depend on clean surface water (streams and lakes) for many uses such as drinking, recreating, and supporting aquatic life. Water flows from creeks, streams and rivers in Durham to local water supply reservoirs, including Falls Lake, Jordan Lake, Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir. City and State parks are located along several waterways, and each year the Festival on the Eno grows larger. Surface water resources are important to the City of Durham, past, present and future. Northeast Creek Recognizing that surface waters are a finite resource that require constant protection, How is water quality? the Clean Water Act was passed in 1970. Additional programs have since been Water quality in the City of Durham ranges adopted at the federal level that require from Good to Poor depending upon where cities, and some counties, to develop you are in the city and depending upon how comprehensive stormwater management you judge water quality. One way to judge programs to protect and restore water water quality is by using the North Carolina quality in all surface waters. Stormwater Water Quality Standards. These standards runoff from urban and suburban areas of are independent of the land use and are cities has been identified as a primary cause intended to provide a baseline water quality of the degradation of streams, lakes, level. Another way is using your own eyes reservoirs and estuaries across the country. and nose. If you see trash in the stream The City of Durham conducts water quality (e.g., shopping carts, bicycles, old engines) monitoring in its streams under a federal or smell a foul odor, water quality is permit program as required by the Clean probably not good. Water Act. This monitoring information has been summarized in the State of Our In this third year of producing the State of Streams report for the last two years. our Streams report, it appears that water quality is generally the same. Water quality on a large scale does not appear to be The number of water quality better; however, it is also not worse. This is 213 investigations initiated in an accomplishment given the drought that 2006. impacted our area during 2005. City of Durham Stormwater Services—(919) 560-4326 www.durhamnc.gov/stormwater Design/Plan Review—Drainage/Flooding Concerns—Floodplain Information Stormwater Public Education—Surface Water Quality The State of Our Streams: 2006 Water Quality Monitoring Program The water quality index can also be used to Federal permitting regulations require the identify target areas for clean-up and to City of Durham to monitor water quality in communicate stream conditions to citizens. local streams. Stormwater Services staff collect water samples on a regular basis The City has limited staff and resources to from streams throughout the city. Analyses improve water quality. Therefore, it is of these samples includes biochemical essential that citizens become involved and oxygen demand, nutrients, sediment and provide additional eyes, ears, and noses to metals. Fecal coliform bacteria is also help find and eliminate sources of pollution. analyzed regularly. Analysis of these parameters allows city and state staff to The index provides a water quality grade evaluate potential risks to people, drinking that ranges from 0 to 100 relative to other water supplies and aquatic resources (e.g., streams in Durham County. All urban fish, waterfowl). streams generally fail to meet at least one federal or state water quality standard, so Stormwater Services staff also collect all urban streams fail in some manner. aquatic life to determine impacts to water However, the water quality index allows quality. It would be prohibitively expensive citizens and Stormwater Services to identify to monitor for all of the toxic chemicals that those areas with the most serious pollution could be present. Aquatic insects, or issues and to track significant changes. benthic macroinvertebrates, are collected annually as a surrogate to extensive 2006 Water Quality Index Results chemical monitoring. Insects help staff to The water quality index results for 2006 are learn which streams no longer support summarized in Figure 1. Red indicates the abundant life, assuming the watershed was poorest water quality. At the other end of minimally disturbed. Streams may be rated the color range, dark green shows better Poor, Fair, Good or Excellent with an quality water. Between the extremes is a Excellent rating indicating the best insect range of conditions: yellow-green indicates community and water quality. some pollution, while light orange through dark orange indicate increasing pollution. In 2006, the City of Durham conducted a combination of chemical and bacterial Colored areas in the map correspond to the monitoring at 36 locations and aquatic life area that contributed to the index result. monitoring at 17 locations in and around the These areas are called watersheds and City of Durham. indicate the land area contributing pollution to the stream. In general, stormwater runoff Water Quality Index draining from highly urbanized watersheds To provide an overall picture of the health (e.g., downtown and older areas surrounding of our streams, Stormwater Services downtown) degrades water more than less combines all of the chemical measurements developed areas. The water quality index of water quality into a water quality index. helps pinpoint which areas contribute The water quality index is like a numerical relatively more pollutants to our waterways. grade for our streams. Looking at this grade from year to year can indicate overall The water quality index summarizes progress in cleaning up area streams. chemical data collected at 25 locations in and around the City of Durham. City of Durham Stormwater Services page 2 The State of Our Streams: 2006 City of Durham Stormwater Services page 3 The State of Our Streams: 2006 City of Durham Stormwater Services page 4 The State of Our Streams: 2006 Fecal coliform bacteria is a measure of pathogens in surface water. Elevated levels may pose a health risk for people wading in streams or pets and wildlife that drink from streams. The state evaluates fecal coliform bacteria as an average and based on the frequency of high levels. Mapped areas in red exceed both state evaluation levels by a large amount. The red area is in the South Ellerbe and Goose Creek watersheds covering an older part of Durham west to the Duke University East Campus. What’s going on with Jordan Lake? neighborhoods and commercial areas to meet nutrient loading goals for Jordan The City of Durham and other municipalities Lake. The City must conduct feasibility have been working with the State to studies from which to propose a plan for determine what actions were needed to these additional controls. protect Jordan Lake for many years. For 3. Ensure protection of existing vegetated example, before the Jordan Lake dam was areas 50 feet wide adjacent to built several municipalities upgraded intermittent and perennial streams and wastewater treatment. Since the dam was ponds. built, the City of Durham upgraded the wastewater treatment plant a second time These requirements will not be in effect for to remove more pollutants. However, the several years, but have the potential to State still considers Jordan Lake impaired require developers to include additional and federal programs are now framing the stormwater treatment in any proposed management of Jordan Lake. designs and restrictions on development of currently vegetated streamside areas. For a In 2005, the State began working on draft complete copy of the draft rules, go to language for rules to promote additional http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/nps/ pollutant removal in the Jordan Lake JordanNutrientStrategy.htm watershed. The City of Durham participated in meetings and provided comments to the What is the City of Durham doing State on the draft language. At the end of about water quality? 2006, the State formally initiated a process to move the draft language to regulations. The Stormwater Services group approaches These new rules would require the following protection in three ways: prevention, of the City of Durham: restoration and public education. 1. Develop and implement programs Prevention activities include City design requiring additional stormwater controls requirements, reviewing design of on new land development projects to stormwater control and treatment devices meet nutrient loading goals for Jordan for compliance with City design Lake. requirements, and ultimately approving 2. Incrementally implement additional construction designs. stormwater controls on existing City of Durham Stormwater Services page 5 The State of Our Streams: 2006 Stormwater Services staff also inspect the Sources and Types of Pollution Found construction and maintenance of these in 2006 control and treatment devices to ensure they are functioning and providing the Cooking grease Household issues, 4 necessary environmental benefit. and f ood oil, 5 Sanit ary sewer line breaks, 9 One new Stormwater Services Division Other sources and Discarded paint , 10 initiative is the production of watershed connect ions, 50 Erosion and management plans for restoration and sediment ation, 14 protection. The first of these plans will be developed for the Ellerbe Creek watershed. Public presentations will be made as part of Petroleum spill or leak, 25 this plan development. Sanitary sewer Sewer lateral overf low (public), overflow (privat e), 29 Investigations 14 Illicit discharges are another source of pollution in urban areas. Illicit discharges are those non-stormwater discharges that have not been authorized by a permit. Stormwater Services works with other parts Illicit discharges typically occur at specific of the City government to identify and fix locations. Illicit discharges include illegal illicit discharges to City surface waters. Of dumping, such as pet owners disposing of those sources of pollution identified in 2006, pet wastes in the stormwater system.