Currently under the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission rules, runoff leaving a construction site must meet a clarity or turbidity standard of £ 50 NTU or the site must have proper and approved best management practices (BMP's) installed and maintained. Sediment from construction sites received public notoriety in North Carolina in 1997 when a plume of red, muddy runoff, thought to be from construction sites, was photographed on its way down the Neuse River. Following this incident, the Governor called on the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) to begin stricter enforcement of erosion and sediment control regulations on construction sites. The muddy plume incident and increased public scrutiny has resulted in the need for reliable and defensible documentation of the effectiveness of erosion and sediment control efforts.
One of the most defensible ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of erosion and sediment control programs is through water quality monitoring of surface water resources in close proximity to the construction. The following proposal outlines the monitoring plan for the Sedgefield Lakes watershed in Guilford County, NC.
The objectives of this study are to:
Document the changes in the water quality of unnamed tributaries to Sedgefield Lakes as a result of highway construction in the watershed.Evaluate the monitoring data to determine if changes in water quality parameters are significant.
