North Central Region One Water Action Forum

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One Water in the Triangle
Region of North Carolina
Jen Schmitz
Principal Planner – Water Resources
Triangle J Council of Governments
Presented to the One Water Action Forum
December 12, 2018

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Jordan Lake and the Triangle
 Originally dammed in the 1980’s as flood control for downstream/coastal
communities
 One of our many manmade, immediately impaired lakes 
 Became the primary drinking water source for the Triangle and beyond
through water supply allocations, interconnections, and interbasin transfer

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Jordan Lake and the Triangle
 Originally dammed in the 1980’s as flood control for downstream/coastal
communities
 One of our many manmade, immediately impaired lakes 
 Became the primary drinking water source for the Triangle and beyond
through water supply allocations, interconnections, and interbasin transfer
 The “Jordan Lake Rules” nutrient management strategy drafted in 2009;
portions delayed (and delayed) until 2019
 Over 100 people a DAY move to the Triangle; hundreds more to the
greater region
 Millions of people in a huge portion of the state rely on the long-term
sustainable management of the Jordan Lake watershed!

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• ~1,700 square miles
• 10 counties
• 27 municipalities
• 11 water supply
reservoirs

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A watershed fraught with challenges…
History of collaboration impediments:
 The Jordan Lake Rules and other regulatory obstacles have distracted
all from working together and created understandable silo-ing of efforts.
 Contention has lead to inaction!
 “Local governments are taking a cautionary approach in spending on
nutrient management because of concerns related to nutrient reduction
credit required under the rules and because of anticipated future
needs” (UNC EFC, 2018)
 Entities are currently “going it alone.” Need to form a collaborative
group for an alternative management approach to the status quo.
 Previous initiatives were missing tangible
actions/goals, champions at various levels,
feasible alternatives to regulation, and
a central coordinating entity

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• ~1,700 square miles
• 10 counties
• 27 municipalities
• 11 water supply
reservoirs

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Jordan Lake One Water (Association)
“The JLOW(A) is a brand new collaborative entity, established by TJCOG in
2017 and supported by a group of diverse stakeholders from Greensboro to
Raleigh that facilitates cooperation to achieve holistic integrated water
resource management (“One Water”) in the entire Jordan Lake watershed.”

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Integrated Water(shed) Management
“There are holistic regional approaches to spending and raising revenue for
watershed protection in other areas of the country that are not currently being
utilized in the Jordan Lake watershed” (UNC EFC, 2018)

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Jordan Lake Rules Readoption
Opportunity

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A Confluence of Opportunity
 The JLOW participants will develop a One Water management
framework that leverages their diverse capabilities and achieves desired
stakeholder objectives and outcomes across the geographic spectrum
 The JLOW One Water framework will be developed with diverse interest
group representation and feedback processes
 The JLOW One Water framework will be sufficiently broad in scope so as
to realize triple bottom line benefits across a range of collaborative
opportunities, one of which is improved nutrient management through an
integrated watershed approach and revised policy (Rule) language
 JLOW’s broad stakeholder involvement will help DWR implement its
public participation process for the upcoming readoption/revision of the
Jordan Lake Watershed nutrient management (the Rules).
 All of this requires dedication, collaborative brainpower (Advisory
Committee) and a Work Plan!

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Building Trust
 Convene stakeholders quarterly to foster collaboration
(unprecedented) and progress through Work Plan Tasks
 Convene elected officials (champions) bi-monthly to discuss policy,
ordinances, etc.
 Provide a stage for research to be distributed to stakeholders and
elected officials so results can influence state and local policy and
projects to incorporate One Water approaches.
 Complete a watershed-wide conservation assessment and model in
order to prioritize efforts and identify the most valuable areas to
protect and/or in which to implement a smart water strategy or
technique.
 Many other pursuits!

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Questions? Jen Schmitz
Principal Planner – Water Resources
jschmitz@tjcog.org
919-558-9342