[VERY IMPORTANT: when googling the RANDLEMAN WATERSHED RULES, always scroll to the bottom of the statute/results page for the “History Note” – and make sure you are looking at the most current revision. See the example shown in the 15A NCAC 02B .0720 image below. There is no 15A NCAC 02B .0250 anymore – it was replaced.]
The Randleman Water Supply Watershed Rules are watershed protection rules codified by the North Carolina State Assembly in 2020 to protect our newest drinking water reservoir, Randleman Lake (Randleman Lake was impounded in the early 2000s and began service as the PTRWA public water system in 2010).
The new 2020 Randleman Water Supply Watershed Rules [15A NCAC 02B .0610, .0611, .0612, .0720, .0721, .0722, .0724] REPLACED the old Randleman Lake Buffer Rules [15A NCAC 02B .0250]. The rules clearly state, as shown in the screenshot below, that ALL waters of the Randleman Lake (Deep River) water supply watershed are classified for water supply uses and designated by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission as a CRITICAL WATER SUPPLY WATERSHED pursuant to G.S. 143-214.5(b):
As a Class-IV critical water supply watershed, there are specific groundwater and surface water standards that industrial dischargers, landfill operators, agricultural operators, developers and local authorities operating in Jamestown (and along Deep River and its tributaries) are REQUIRED to follow, as defined in 15A NCAC 02B .0216.
The restrictions specified in the Randleman Watershed Rules for landfills (“no new landfills”) and industrial wastewater dischargers are impressive in their wording, but as we have seen happen over and over again in Jamestown and southern Guilford County, words are just words until and unless the local authorities start ENFORCING them.
As stated in 15A NCAC 02b .0216, water quality standards applicable to Class WS-IV Waters include the following limits for surface waters and tributaries that flow to Deep River:
Solids, total dissolved: 500 mg/l
Barium: 1.0 mg/l
Chloride: 250 mg/l
Nickel: 25 µg/L
Nitrate nitrogen: 10.0 mg/l
2,4-D: 70 µg/L
2,4,5-TP (Silvex): 10 µg/L
Sulfates: 250 mg/l
Aldrin: 0.05 ng/1 [HHDN; 1,2,3,4,10,10-hexachloro-1,4,4α,5,8,8α-hexahydro1,4-endo,exo-5,8-dimethanonaphthalene]
Arsenic: 10 µg/L
Benzene: 1.19 µg/L [(6)Annelene, Benzin, benzine, benzol, benzols, benzolene, cyclohexatriene, phenyl hydride, pyrobenzol]
Carbon tetrachloride: 0.254 µg/L [carbon tet, tetrachloromethane, CCI4]
Chlordane: 0.8 µg/L
Chlorinated benzenes: 488 µg/L [Chlorobenzene]
DDT: 0.2 ng/1 [dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane; 1,1’-(2,2,2-trichloroethylidene); bis(4-chlorobenzene); 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane]
Dieldrin: 0.05 ng/1 [HEOD]
Dioxin: 0.000005 ng/l [TCDD, polychlorinated dibenzo para dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)]
Heptachlor: 0.08 ng/1
Hexachlorobutadiene: 0.44 µg/L [HCBD, HCDB, Perchlorobutadiene, perchloro-1, 3-butadiene, tripen]
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (total of all PAHs): 2.8 ng/l [Naphthalene, Biphenylene, Fluorene, Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene, Anthracene, Phenanthrene, Phenalene, Fluoranthene, Tetracene, Benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, trophenylene, pyrene, pentacle, benzopyrene, perylene, corannulene, benzo[ghi]perylene, coronene]
Tetrachloroethane (1,1,2,2): 0.17 µg/L [Acetylene tetrachloride, TeCA]
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE): 0.7 µg/L [Perchloroethylene, PERC, perchlor, perclene]
Trichloroethylene (TCE): 2.5 µg/L
Vinyl Chloride: 0.025 µg/L [VCM, chloroethene, chloroethylene, ethylene monochloride]
MBAS (Methylene-Blue Active Substances): 0.5 mg/l
Chlorinated phenolic compounds: 1.0 µg/L [Includes Chlorophenols, Monochlorophenols, Dichlorophenols,Trichlorophenols, Tetrachlorophenols, Pentachlorophenol]
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