WORKING TO SAVE THE LAKES—NCPIRG Environmental Attorney Christine Wunsche, right, met with “Clean Lakes” bill prime sponsor Rep. Jennifer Weiss (Wake) about strategy for the bill’s passage. Other prime sponsors included Reps. Grier Martin (Wake), Carolyn Justice (Carteret), and Pricey Harrison (Guilford). Sen. Janet Cowell (Wake) , along with Sens. Neal Hunt, Vernon Malone and Bob Atwater led the charge in the Senate.

Thanks in part to NCPIRG advocacy, the state House and Senate have approved a measure to protect the state's most threatened drinking water lakes.

Four senators, led by Sen. Janet Cowell (Wake) and 24 representatives had put their names on the measure, which is designed to reduce and prevent pollution in the state's drinking water lakes. The measure cleared both chambers of the legislature nearly unanimously.

NCPIRG’s Christine Wunsche is pushing the “Clean Lakes” bill, signing on sponsors and securing commitments from elected officials to vote for the proposal.

North Carolina boasts 1,500 lakes, 160 of which provide drinking water. Lake Norman, Lake Jordan and Falls Lake alone draw over a million visitors each year for recreation and relaxation.

But the state is developing rapidly, in some areas at twice the rate of population growth. This development means more treated sewage dumped into our lakes. And increased pavement ushers pollutants like fertilizer and oil residue directly into our waters.

NCPIRG research shows that portions of several drinking water lakes, many in the state’s fastestgrowing regions, are polluted. Parts of Jordan Lake in Chatham County, for example, are considered “impaired” for activities like fishing and swimming.

The “Clean Lakes” bill would require the state first to develop a list of lakes in the state and document their pollution problems. Second, state officials would be required to develop guidelines to clean up existing pollution in the lakes that need it most. Finally, the bill would prohibit new sewage discharges into our most threatened lakes until cleanup measures are in place.

Governor Easley is expected to sign the measure soon.