into the water from industries, farms, city streets, 

 forestland and even the air. 



Three bodies of water, the Chowan River and Jordan and 

 Falls lakes, are especially susceptible to this type of growth 

 and are legally designated as "nutrient sensitive." Already, 

 the Chowan River and lower Neuse River contain nuisance 

 blue-green algal blooms that were facilitated by these 

 nutrients. UNC Sea Grant researcher Hans Paerl has found 

 that these blooms may be altering the food chain. 



With such problems evident, the legislature earmarked 

 approximately $3 million to the study of these watersheds, 

 or drainage areas. Two-thirds of the money will go to 

 NRCD's Division of Soil and Water Conservation to 

 provide cost-sharing programs to farmers in 15 surrounding 

 counties, says Buddy Atkins, chief of the division's 

 Agricultural Non-Point Source Section. 



Under these programs, farmers receive state funds for im- 

 plementing "Best Management Practices" to reduce the 

 flow of animal wastes, fertilizers, pesticides and other pollu- 

 tants into the waterways. BMPs include such techniques as 

 waste management systems, conservation tillage, terracing, 

 planting grass waterways, strip-cropping and crop rotation. 



The BMP program, scheduled to begin in September, will 

 be administered by the local Soil and Water Conservation 

 districts. Similar federal cost-sharing programs are current- 

 ly offered and can be used in conjunction with the new 

 state program, Atkins says. 



Farmers aren't the only ones who will be using BMPs. 

 Loggers will be also. Cutting down trees, making roads and 

 clearing land should be regulated because each contributes 

 to erosion on the coast and inland, says H.J. "Boe" Green, 

 director of the Division of Forest Resources. 



"Soil sediment is considered to be the greatest water 

 pollutant we have," Green says. "Depending on the amount 

 of sedimentation, it causes the water to be unfit to use. . . It 

 carries nutrients into the water and contributes to algal 

 problems," and is harmful to fish when it settles in the reser- 



Photo from NCSU Agricultural Communications 



voirs. We already see these problems in the Chowan and 

 Neuse rivers, he says. 



A large portion of the funds will be used to minimize ero- 

 sion. Loggers will be asked to make proper stream crossings 

 and road layouts, to seed roads with grasses quickly after 

 logging, and to plow only surface soils. Other monies will go 

 toward seed, fertilizer and labor for revegetating cleared 

 land. 



To help identify highly erodible lands around the Falls- 

 Jordan area, some state government computer whizzes have 

 developed a map that won't be found in any gas station. 

 The Land Resources Information Service, under NRCD's 

 Division of Land Resources, mapped the Falls Lake area 

 and received funds to compile a similar one for the Jordan 

 watershed. 



The maps show a variety of information that can be 

 color-coded and presented in overlays, says Karen Siderelis, 



Continued on next page 



Photo by Herman Lankford 



Use of forestry BMPs will cut down on erosion 



Strip-cropping and grass waterways are effective deterrents to land drainage 



