UPDATE: Read Silver's entire presentation here, and Tuesday's story here.

At a Wake Commissioners committee meeting today, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Planning Director Mitchell Silver argued against a county ordinance change that would allow commercial development in the Falls Lake watershed and several other county watersheds.

Meeker argued his case from a policy standpoint, while Silver said the change is inconsistent with the intent of "nonconforming" land uses and is being proposed in the wrong section of the county code. Silver listed several typical options for nonconforming uses, and redevelopment wasn't one of them. He said the move would open "Pandora's Box" to other arbitrary changes in the future. For background on the ordinance, go here.

The text change would essentially allow commercial development for parcels of land that have been "grandfathered" for such use. Those include a lumberyard and cement plant in the Falls watershed, and several bare parcels in other county watersheds.  Meeker and other city officials warn the move could further pollute already impaired Falls Lake, which the city is trying to clean to avoid millions in future costs. They say the text change would undermine Raleigh's efforts to reduce urbanization in Durham
that's harmful to the water quality, and potentially obstruct cleanup
efforts.

The lake is the source of water for more than 65 percent of Wake County citizens, Meeker said this morning, including all of Raleigh and several other towns. It is polluted primarily because of urbanization in Durham, Granville and Person counties.

Commissioners and county staff took issue with Meeker and Silver's arguments. Commissioner Stan Norwalk challenged Meeker's claim that the text change would send the wrong message to Durham.

"What's to prevent us from sending the message that we're actually tightening the standards?," Norwalk said. "You're worried about sending a message, but why?"

Meeker responded: "That's sending a mixed message. We want to send a clear one."

County Attorney Scott Warren said some of the issues Silver raised "will have to be sorted out." And others took issue with his interpretation of the county code.

Commissioner Paul Coble, former Raleigh mayor, blasted the city afterward for presenting their concerns at the 11th hour. And Board Chairman Tony Gurley said during the meeting that "this is stuff that should have been handled long before it reached our board. If we could get all of this rebuttal back and forth done ahead of time, I would greatly appreciate it."

Commissioner Betty Lou Ward, who chairs the committee and lives in the watershed, said it was an example of why they need a countywide planning operation.

A bill setting a Jan. 15, 2011 deadline for draft regulations to clean and protect Falls Lake won approval by the state Senate's environment committee this morning.

The bill also provides for temporary regulations to take effect on the same date, and strengthened erosion-control measures taking effect Dec. 1 of this year.

Wake County Sen. Josh Stein said the much-revised bill, H 1099, is a "win-win" proposition, giving the state Division of Water Quality the extra time it wanted to devise a pollution-reduction plan while providing interim protection for the lake that provides 435,000 Wake County residents with drinking water.

The bill is due for a hearing by the Senate finance committee before going to the floor for a vote. While an earlier version passed the state House in May, due to subsequent revisions a final form must be settled in conference and approved by both houses.

Stein said both Durham and Raleigh had "signed off" on the version of H 1099 heard this morning. The two communities had previously favored different deadlines for the permanent rules, which were ordered by legislative action in 2005 and originally due for Environmental Management Commission review in 2008.

Lots of small bass at Falls tournament

Bobby Mathews and David Mathews, both of Durham, caught five bass weighing 26.49 pounds to $755 at Falls Lake on March 7.

UFO (Unidentified Fabric Object) appears on Falls Lake Trail.

It's supposed to be 74 and sunny today. Not to spread fear, but this time of year you never know how long it will be until you see 74 and sunny again. And did I mention that fall color is at its peak?

You can't go wrong today with the usual suspects: Umstead State Park, Eno River State Park, Falls Lake Trail, the American Tobacco Trail. If you're looking for something different, check out the November hike recommendations at our sister site, nchikes.com.

And if you get out, let us know where you went and what it was like.

The color was good on the Uwharrie Recreation Trail last weekend. 

100 volunteers begin Section 15.

Section could span 62 miles in five years.

A controversial sewage pumping station on polluted Lick Creek got sent back to the drawing board this morning by Durham's Development Review Board.

Lick Creek is in far-eastern Durham County and flows into Falls Lake, reservoir for the city of Raleigh.

City/County planning director Steve Medlin said there was no date set for a re-hearing. The earliest the pumping station plan could come back for development review is Sept. 5.

The General Assembly is currently debating the adoption of new drought rules for water systems across the state. A bill that cleared a House committee earlier this week gives the state the power to order water restrictions but leaves the
specifics -- who must conserve and how much -- to individual
water systems.

One issue that could concern Raleigh, Cary and other water systems is linking when a system has to put in restrictions to the state's drought monitor. For example, the Triangle could be in a severe level of drought, but reservoirs such as Jordan Lake and Falls Lake could be full or close to full. This scenario is likely to be faced by Cary many times in the future, as Jordan Lake is much less prone to droughts than Falls Lake. Keep in mind that water systems need to be able to sell water to make their budgetary goals, and having fixed trigger points set by the state or someone else could wreak havoc on some system's budgets. 

What level of state control is appropriate? It would seem that everyone benefits from water systems being extremely well prepared to handle the next drought. But, as this recent drought showed, municipalities often don't know how well their drought plan work until it is put in place and tested. Raleigh ended up tweaking its conservation rules repeatedly between August of last year and May. Should systems continue to have the flexibility to change their rules as conditions change? There's also the question of whether the state has the time or resources to be knowledgeable about every water system in the state.