News

Water Quality Specialist Taylor Register was in southeast Durham this week, wading through muddy waters.

Taylor was in the Lick Creek watershed collecting the first round of water samples for 2025, and the first samples since Sound Rivers became aware of more than 300 previously unknown sediment and erosion control violations at the site of a housing development under construction in the area — a discovery that led Sound Rivers to amend its lawsuit against the developer, Clayton Properties.

“Even with it being a few months since we’ve officially sampled in the Lick Creek watershed, the area looks pretty much the same as always — orangey, tomato soup creeks and rampant development along every road,” Taylor said. “Our sampling data was also consistent with what we’ve been seeing for the past two years: turbidity levels far exceeding the state 50 NTU standard at every site.”

Clearcutting of land to make way for housing developments has resulted in a near constant flow of sediment into small streams such as Martin Branch, a tributary of Lick Creek which, in turn, flows in Falls Lake, a major drinking water source for Raleigh.

Taylor said the only sample site of five that was clear of severe turbidity was Rocky Branch, while Martin Branch had the highest levels. Rocky Branch, though only a quarter of a mile away, runs through forested land.

“This round was nowhere close to the worst we’ve seen at Martin Branch, but levels were still 10 times higher than what is acceptable, so I think that says a lot,” Taylor said.

Turbidity is the measurement of light through a water column. When very fine clay particles (Triassic) like those found in southeast Durham flow into streams, they remain suspended in the water, turning it an orange-red and choking out aquatic life.

Taylor and Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop share responsibility for collecting the bimonthly samples, primarily because it can be difficult going.

“We take seven turbidity samples from five different locations, which is honestly pretty involved, from scrambling through briars and under bridges just to access the creek, to trying to find new places park the truck every time due to road and development construction constantly moving around. And for me, about five hours total of driving time. So, it’s really helpful for each of us to operate on a bimonthly sampling run to share the load — it’s a lot for just one person to handle!”

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