Jordan Lake – Photo credit: Wake Up Wake County

The North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club submitted comments today to the U.S. Army Corps of engineers about the idea of installing “solar bees” (i.e. big solar powered water mixers) to somehow clean up Jordan Lake rather than doing what’s really necessary. It’s worth your time to read.

 ”April 4, 2014

Mr. Justin Bashaw, Biologist
Environmental Resources Section
US Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District
69 Darlington Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28403-1343

Re: NC Chapter Sierra Club Comment on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for “A Demonstration Project Showing the Impact of Floating In-Lake Long-Distance Circulators in B.E. Jordan Lake” dated March 2014.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the Environmental Assessment for the pilot project to place 36 floating water mixers in Jordan Lake. The NC Chapter of the Sierra Club urges the Army Corps to not grant a USACE real estate license to the North Carolina Division of Water Resources (NCDWR) for placement of circulators within the Morgan Creek and Haw River Arms of Jordan Lake.

Jordan Lake needs science-based solutions to control pollution, not water mixers. And we have the science-based rules that will, based on modeling projections, lead to a cleaner Jordan Lake. Read More

From the North Carolina Sierra Club:

“Legislature ends session with Jordan Lake bills

Jordan Lake bills signal tough times ahead for troubled lake

RALEIGH – Early this morning, the Senate gave final approval to

SB 515, a measure to further delay the rules intended to clean up Jordan Lake. Jordan Lake is a drinking water supply for more than 300,000 people in the Triangle.  Over the three years of delay, more pollutants will run into the lake making it more expensive and difficult to clean up down the road.

“We have a plan in place to clean up Jordan Lake.” said  Molly Diggins, state director of the NC Sierra Club. “ But now lawmakers in Raleigh have needlessly delayed that plan. Instead, they are diverting more than a million dollars from other clean water projects to pay for a pilot project that will not address pollution flowing into the Lake.” Read More