Plodding along; so far, so good? 



(Continued from page three) 



"At present time, no one has regulatory author- 

 ity over fresh water going into salt water," con- 

 cluded Robert A. Carter, head of the Water Quality 

 Operations Branch of the Division of Environ- 

 mental Management. "It's a pollutant to salt 

 water organisms, but it's not defined as such." 



UNC Sea Grant Director B. J. Copeland says 

 there is a possibility that his program may become 

 involved in the state study on Rose Bay. Sea Grant 

 researchers have already been studying runoff 

 effects of the Open Grounds superfarm and a Water 

 Resources Research Institute study of First Colony 

 Farms has just begun. 



If fresh water runoff is identified as a pollution 

 problem, several controls have already been sug- 

 gested. One idea is to leave a buffer zone between 

 drainage projects and the shorelines to retard 

 fresh water intrusion. Diverting drainage ditches 

 into deeper areas of the sounds or into less pro- 

 ductive nursery areas where excess fresh water 

 would have less impact is anotheV idea. Or the 

 draining water could be maneuvered to a large 

 holding area where it would be released more 

 slowly. 



Any state action will take time, Pate said, but 

 any action must be backed with hard data. 



"The problem is not so severe that there's any 

 potential for complete destruction of, say, the 

 shrimp industry. But we feel if the trend continues 

 in converting these highly valuable nursery areas 

 into fresh water habitat, the effects will certainly 

 be detrimental to the seafood industry. We want 

 to attack the problem as rapidly as we logistical ly 

 can. We recognize that just because the drainage 

 ways are there, the potential is there for some 

 drastic effects — even if it doesn't occur 100 times 

 out of 100." 



"We love beans and beef and we have a serious 

 need to extend agricultural operations," Jim 

 Brown, also of the Division of Marine Fisheries, 

 added. "At the same time we dearly love shrimp 

 and oysters. There exists a very serious need for 

 imposing compatability between the two. Can it be 

 done? That's the question. Can it be done under 

 existing authorities or does it mean we'll have to 

 pass new laws and add more control to the existing 

 maze we have now. Or do we just keep plodding 

 along with our fingers crossed? 



"The problem has been developing probably 

 since the very first drainage projects," Brown con- 

 tinued. "We've been aware of it as a potential 

 problem for 10 to 12 years but only recently have 

 we come up with any data that pinpoints it as a 

 serious problem. The initial effect is reducing the 

 effectiveness of some of our more productive nurs- 

 ery areas. The subsequent effect that bothers us is 

 the type of pollution that may result from the land 

 use at the other end — the possibilities of accidents 

 with pesticides and runoff of fertilizer. 



"The whole thing sometimes reminds me of the 

 fellow who jumped off the Empire State Building. 

 When he passed the 13th floor he saw there was 

 a party going on. He waved and said 'So far, so 

 good.' " 



Drained and logged land, an increasingly common 

 coastal sight. 



University of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant College 

 1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 North Carolina State University 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27607 



Second-class postage paid at Raleigh 

 N.C. 27611 



