TLC President's Message

TLC Conserves Land to Clean Up Water

February 2010

Dear Friends,

For those keeping track of the water quality condition of Falls Lake and Jordan Lake—drinking water sources for many of us in the Triangle—you know that the news is not good. Nutrients, sediment, and runoff from streets and parking lots are flowing into Jordan and Falls lakes at higher and higher rates. Nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen feed huge blooms of algae that suck up the lakes’ dissolved oxygen and starve fish populations while sediment washing off cleared land and oil running off roads pollute the water that we drink, bathe in and cook with.

Further complicating efforts to keep our water clean is the fact that many towns, cities and counties must participate for the clean-up to be successful. To borrow a cliché, the process so far has been as easy as herding cats.

There is a place for land conservation in the array of strategies being employed to clean up our lakes. By protecting land along the creeks and rivers (also known as tributaries) that flow into Jordan Lake and Falls Lake, we give Mother Nature a chance to filter the bad stuff before it reaches the lakes themselves. These lands along tributaries (or stream buffers) also aid in holding more water in the ground, which pumps up water supply even in times of drought.

Protecting land along tributaries of drinking water reservoirs is already under way in the Upper Neuse River Basin, where Falls Lake and eight other reservoirs are located. Triangle Land Conservancy along with several other conservation organizations have partnered with the City of Raleigh in the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative to acquire land and conservation easements voluntarily from landowners to safeguard water quality. Durham County, Orange County and the City of Durham are also participating in the initiative.

Conservation of stream buffers will not resolve all of our water quality challenges, but this strategy currently is being under-utilized. Land conservation is a cost-effective way to clean our lakes.

Kevin Brice, President and CEO, Triangle Land Conservancy

TLC President's Message Archive

November 2009   TLC’s Our Water, Our Land Campaign: Strengthening Connections to Nature
August 2009   Members Keep TLC Conserving
May 2009   Join us in June
November 2008   TLC Plans to Succeed
August 2008   Only Way to Save Farms is Buy Local
February 2008   Time to celebrate
November 2007   Deep River deservedly recognized
August 2007   Land: They're not making any more of it
May 2007   TLC's landscapes are works of art
November 2006   TLC collaborates for conservation successes
August 2006   Members drive TLC's success
May 2006   Planting trees and promoting peace
November 2005   Big opportunity for Triangle conservation
July 2005   Passing the torch

Copyright © 2006-2008, Triangle Land Conservancy Last updated on 02/04/2010.