Stephen J. Brown - Town of Cary - Water Resources Department ATTACHMENT

April 4, 2014
Mr. Justin Bashaw
USACE, Wilmington District
69 Darlington Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28403 -1343
WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
RE: ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT for a Demonstration Project Showing
the Impact of Floating In -Lake Long- Distance Circulators in B.E. Jordan Lake
Dear Mr. Bashaw,
Jordan Lake is a critical resource for the Triangle Region. The Town of Cary operates the
Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility ( CAWTF,) co -owned with the Town of Apex, to provide
drinking water from Jordan Lake to over 210,000 people in Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and the
Wake County portion of Research Triangle Park. The Town also provides raw water from the
pump station at the CAWTF - currently the only water supply withdrawal facility on Jordan
Lake - to Chatham County.
The Division of Water Resources' Demonstration Project is unlikely to have any impact on
the raw water supplied to the CAWTF. Each of the proposed project areas (Morgan Creek
and Haw River Arms) is approximately 6 miles from the CAWTF raw water intake and the in-
lake long- distance circulators are unlikely to have any impact on the raw water quality at the
CAWTF intake. As noted on page 58 of the EA, "The proposed action may improve the water
quality within the project areas of Jordan Lake by reducing the frequency of algal blooms,
increasing dissolved oxygen, and increasing the pH in the project areas. However, due to the
distance of the [Cary/Apex] raw water intake to the project areas (approximately six miles
from each project area), it is unlikely that any benefit would be seen at the intake."
The Study Plan for the Assessment of In -Lake Mechanical Reductions of Adverse Impacts
Related to Excess Nutrients in the Morgan Creek and Haw River Arms of Jordan Lake may
be sufficient for the purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of the Demonstration Project.
However, should the State of North Carolina propose the deployment of in -lake long- distance
circulators nearer to the CAWTF raw water intake, additional information about the effects of
such circulators on the operation of the CAWTF should be provided for public comment.
TOWN Of CARY
316 North Academy Street • Cary, NC 27513 • PO Box 8005 • Cary, NC 27512 -8005
tel [phone] • fax [phone] • www.townofcary.org

The Town of Cary is committed to being a good steward of our finite natural resources. We
believe that a science -based approach to managing Jordan Lake's water quality will have a
net positive benefit for our citizens and for the communities in the watershed. We look
forward to working with other stakeholders and state officials as we chart a course for the
future of the Jordan Lake watershed.
Sincerely,
Stephen J. wn, P.E.
Director of Water Resources
cc: Tom Reeder, NCDENR /DWQ