The newcomers to Wake Forest since 2007 are an overwhelming majority. In 2007 the town had 10,155 residents; now we have 52,059. They experience somewhat quirky weather but on the whole we have a lot of Carolina blue skies with long growing periods – my husband’s snap peas and radishes are up and flourishing on the last day of February – lush vegetation and moderate temperatures that encourage a healthy outdoor lifestyle.
But what if the quirky weather grows more extreme, as is likely? What if we – between hurricanes – have a drought?
We experienced a short drought period in 2005, but in 2007 and the first part of 2008 there was a severe drought in Wake County and all the surrounding counties. Before it broke, we all began to wonder if we would have enough water for our homes, our businesses and our industries.
Falls Lake, with a small addition from the new water treatment plant on Lake Benson, is the sole water source for now about 600,000 people. In 2007 the number was 400,000 people. Raleigh Water, the city’s public utilities department, delivers water to not just Raleigh but also Garner, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Wendell, Knightdale and Zebulon. It also treats the sewage from the city and the six towns.
Falls Lake is controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which bought the land, built the dam, and was authorized to operate the lake and dam for flood control, water supply, water quality downstream in the Neuse River and recreation. The lake was filled in the summer of 1984 and holds water that drains from three rivers and countless streams in a 770-acre basin.
The lake is conceptually divided into three horizontal sections: the flood control pool at the top, the conservation pool in the middle, and the sedimentation pool at the bottom. Our drinking water comes from the conservation pool and is also the water the Corps uses to maintain regulated flows of the Neuse River downstream.
The flood control pool, the water that can be retained in the lake to prevent downstream flooding as much as possible, is from 264.8 feet above mean sea level down to 251.5 feet, the level the Corps tries to maintain. During a hurricane, the lake can hold up to 352,577 acre-feet of water (the amount of water to cover an acre at a depth of a foot) to prevent floods.
The sedimentation pool, the 36.5 feet at the bottom of the lake where sediment can build up, began to be looked at by water experts in 2007 because the lake level was so low. The upper western parts of the lake became sandy wastes with small pools of water.
Our drinking water comes from the normal conservation pool, the 15 feet of water between 251.5 feet above mean sea level down to 236.5 feet. It also keeps the Neuse River flowing all the way to the Pamlico Sound.
The state requires the Corps maintain a flow in the Neuse River of at least 254 cubic feet per second at Clayton from April through October and at least 184 cfs from November through March. The state also requires minimum releases at the dam of 100 cfs from April through October and, depending on the lake level, releases of between 55 to 65 cfs from November through March.
The Corps also has to maintain adequate flow in the Neuse to provide Kinston with drinking water, and other stakeholders are the state agencies established to protect fish, marine life and wildlife, the Neuse River Foundation and its riverkeepers, fishermen in the Pamlico Sound and the hog farms which are in the Neuse basin.
So we are looking at a complex system, not just our drinking water when we begin to look at Falls Lake, and one thing we should note is that the Corps retained ownership of enough land around the lake in an effort to protect it from runoff and pollution.
But there are many, many streams in the lake’s watershed – and every one of them should be protected also. That includes Horse Creek, which enters Falls Lake very near the dam.
Originally, Wake Forest had Watershed R-40 zoning for all the Horse Creek watershed. Why has it been changed? We are told it was changed but not why and why the current zoning is thought sufficient to protect our only drinking source.
It takes a lot of mental calisthenics to see how allowing 10 houses on an acre of land could be deemed appropriate in a watershed area. TEN HOUSES ON AN ACRE! But that is what is being proposed for the part of the former Wake Forest Country Club. With their roofs, driveways, streets they would cover close to every inch of the acre. Every oil spill, every candy wrapper carelessly tossed would wind eventually to the lake.
Think about that when you sip your coffee tomorrow morning. And remember that a drought in 2007 can be repeated.
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2 Responses
Where there is water, there is life. A lot of acreage around Wake Forest and Falls Lake used to be zoned RW-40, for watershed protection. RW-40 was downgraded to R-40 and on to R-10, GR-10. Likewise, many of the small streams have gone from water supply use (one of the highest grades) to recreational use, meaning you can wade in it but take a bath when you get home.
As a 30 year supporter of Neuse River Foundation, a minor correction. In 2015 the Neuse River Foundation joined with the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation to become Sound Rivers.
Check out the 2021 documentary celebrating the 40th year of these organizations, “A Sound River.”
The trailer is available here:
https://coastalreview.org/2021/12/a-sound-river-documentary-traces-nonprofits-40-years/
Carol, Excellent reporting, details, and analysis. I remember the time when I took my dishwater to water my plants, didn’t flush but every other time, etc. That was back when we had a whole lot less people in Wake Forest with a whole lot less people with swimming pools and their “pristine green geometric, good for nothing” lawns. I feel like the song from the musical “The Music Man” “We’ve Got Trouble [sic} in Wake Forest and its ETJ.”