Fixing "Impaired" water sources

From The News & Observer's June 25, 2009 Editorial section: Title - A cleaner Falls, faster. Falls Lake is the drinking water resource for 435,000 in Wake County, North Carolina. Unfortunately, under federal clean water standards, the lake is impaired. The editorial goes on to state that high levels of both nitrogen and phosphorus are causing increases in algae in the lake. You know what algae looks like, that sickly green stuff that clouds the water or if enough exists, floats like large clouds on the surface. This makes the water harder to clean for drinking purposes.

And of course, the source of this problem originates upstream, in this case, Durham County whose rivers and streams feed both Falls and Jordan lakes.

The editorial acknowledges the difficulty of the work necessary to reduce these levels, especially with a state budget crisis.

So are our lush green lawns causing problems? Well, in a word yes.

The importance of rain gardens becomes clearer now. We don't have to wait for our officials to take action, because we can start solving the problem right now by installing a rain garden in our yard. No, it won't be a total solution. Businesses large and small will also need to create mechanisms to catch their rain water and prevent it from entering our waterways.

But we can start. Think about it.