River supporters to lobby legislators

Dealing with drought and proposed coastal stormwater rules are two areas of concern for a Neuse River Foundation-sponsored bus trip to the state legislature Wednesday.

The New Bern-based group will join other river alliances and environmental groups from around the state as part of the eighth annual Clean Water Lobby Day. The event is sponsored by the Watershed Alliance of the N.C. Conservation Network, which plans a 9:30 a.m. rally at the North Carolina Museum of History.

Lower Neuse Riverkeeper Larry Baldwin said the trip is free, with a 55-seat bus leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot at 7 a.m. Participants are asked to arrive by 6:45 a.m.

He said the group plans to talk to individual House and Senate representatives about water-quality issues.

"The impact of the drought was not as severe here as elsewhere in the state," Baldwin said. "You look at the Neuse and there is always water. We don't see it reduced to a trickle, but every one of the 100 counties was under some degree of drought conditions."

Baldwin said that although there has been fairly significant rainfall this year, it is not a time to be complacent.

"As a state, we were very unprepared last year and we need to be putting some water-conservation measures into place so that the next time we have a minimal effect, instead of suddenly you can't wash your car or water your lawn," he said.

The clean-water lobbyists will also address proposed coastal stormwater rules aimed at properties near shellfishing waters.

"What we are seeing is a continued decline in our shellfishing capabilities," Baldwin said. "And it is in a very, very large part due to the development that goes on. We are destroying our riparian buffers, we're putting more sediment in the water and you've got more stormwater runoff."

Baldwin said group opposition by home builders and real estate companies was overreaction.

"The number one thing that we are hearing, which is completely untrue, is that this is going to stop development in eastern North Carolina," he said. "It's not going to stop development. It's not impacting a large area. It's just those areas that are up to a half-mile away from designated shellfish waters."

With waterfront properties at the high end of development, developers, homebuilders and a number of coastal county governments disagree.

Craven and Pamlico county commissioners are among a number of coastal local government boards who have passed resolution opposing the proposed rules.

"It is politically and economically driven," Baldwin said. "Unfortunately, they (builders and developers) are seeing this as an impact to how much money they can make. Sure it's going cost a little bit more to put some of these stormwater controls in. But at what point do we start thinking about the cost of protecting our river? We're either going to have to pay Mother Nature now, or pay her later."

He said other coastal river groups along with the N.C. Coastal Federation were also taking buses to Raleigh.

For information about the Neuse River Foundation trip, call 637-7972.