Northeast Creek Streamwatch

Three Northeast Creek Streamwatch members attended the Joint Durham City/County Stormwater Citizens Participation Group meeting for the water quality recovery plans for Third Fork Creek and Northeast Creek. Present were soil and water conservation staff, city stormwater staff, representatives from UNC-Chapel Hill, and neighborhood groups interested in the water quality of Northeast Creek and Third Fork Creek.

Some buzzwords and acronyms you might hear

303(d) list - a federally required list of waters that do not meet water quality standards that the state of North Carolina has set for them even after point sources of pollution, such as private, corporate and public sewage treatment plants have installed the minimum required level of technology.

BMP - best management practice, a structure (such as a retention pond) or an activity that is judged as effective in reducing pollutants

POC - pollutant of concern

TMDL - total maximum daily load of pollutants permitted by state and federal law and TMDL plans.

About Northeast Creek

Northeast Creek flows into Jordan Lake and is subject to the Jordan Lake TMDL and management strategy. The Jordan Lake TMDL requires reductions of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Northeast Creek watershed. Previously there was a TMDL specific to Northeast Creek for fecal coliform bacteria. Pollutants on the 2008 draft 303(d) list include turbidity (suspended solid particles), low dissolved oxygen, and nitrates/nitrites. In addition, the City of Durham, the NC Division of Water Quality (NC DWQ), the Upper Cape Fear River Basin Association (UCFRBA), and the US Geological Survey (USGS), which are monitoring Northeast Creek, have found other pollutants; specifically, copper has been found at levels higher than “action level” standards. Another pollutant of concern is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which often occur from runoffs from parking lots sealed with compounds containing these compounds.

The NC DWQ has issued stormwater permits in the Northeast Creek watershed for Glaxo-Wellcome, National Specialty Gases, and SCM Metal Products.

Best management practice (BMP) structures in the Northeast Creek watershed include wet and dry stormwater detention ponds, bioretention areas, and constructed wetlands. All of these structures provide control of peak stormwater flows.

Non-structural best management practices in the Northeast Creek watershed include watershed-specific public education and outreach, prioritization of illicit discharge detection and elimination, prioritization of industrial inspections, increased frequency of street sweeping, encouraging homeowner and community rain gardens, and encouraging the use of low-impact development techniques. Each of these has the potential to decrease pollution reaching Northeast Creek.

There are two USGS stream guages on Northeast Creek. The first is on SR 1100 (Grandale Road) near Northeast Creek Streamwatch’s monitoring site. The second is on the north prong of Northeast Creek on SR 1182 (Fletcher-Carpenter Road).

The City of Durham is required to identify and map the locations of known major outfalls (stormwater pipes greater than 12 inches in diameter) that have the possibility of discharging pollutants, especially POCs, into impaired waters or tributaries of impaired waters. The City of Durham is currently identifying those outfalls in Northeast Creek. Work began in 2008 and continues into 2010.

The next steps in this process include the creation of a water quality monitoring plan, a conceptual model of the interaction of polluting sources in Northeast Creek and Third Fork Creek, identification of best management practices, and a cost/benefit analysis of the best management practices to determine which the study will recommend for the City and County to pursue.

Before the Durham Earthday 2008 Festival, Northeast Creek Streamwatch conducted a stream clean-up.

Around two dozen folks pitched in and helped, cleaning along Northeast Creek in Audubon Park and in Parkwood.

Here are the signs of success—what was collected in two hours, including a tire, a windshield, and a bicycle.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who came out to participate.

Almost twenty people helped clean up the Grandale Bridge area of Northeast Creek, Parkwood Creek, and the Lotus Pond. Because of the weather the Parkwood Flea Market was rescheduled. The event was well publicized and people were called about coming. The event was as big as the Earth Day cleanup and picked up a lot of trash. There is a pile of trash on Seaton near the Parkwood Fire Department.