Horse Creek Watershed Study

Horse Creek Watershed

The Horse Creek Watershed encompasses approximately 4.7 square miles, including the western part of Wake Forest and a few unincorporated areas of Wake County. Nearly 500 acres in the eastern portion of the watershed are within the Town limits of Wake Forest. All or parts of the Chartwell, Chaunceys at Twin Cedars, Crenshaw Forest, Galloway, Glenmor, Hawkshead, Holly Forest, Keighley Forest, Kensington Manor, Prestwicke, Ridgeland Park, Riverstone, Sally Manor, St. Ives, Secluded Oaks, and Waterfall Plantation neighborhoods are within the Horse Creek Watershed, as shown on the map.

Watershed Study

The Horse Creek Watershed drains into Falls Lake, which is affected by upstream pollution from a variety of sources. Falls Lake is an important regional drinking water supply that serves over a half million people across seven Wake County municipalities, including the Town of Wake Forest. In 2011, in response to repeated problems with harmful algal blooms, the State of North Carolina developed the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy, commonly referred to as the Falls Lake Rules to reduce pollution inputs to the lake from surrounding communities.

The Town of Wake Forest is initiating a watershed study to identify and address current issues within the Horse Creek Watershed related to water quality, inadequate drainage conveyances, stormwater infrastructure problems, and erosion. The study will help the town develop compliance measures to meet the pollution reduction requirements in the Falls Lake Rules. The Town will use the study to develop a watershed plan that will serve as a guide for efforts to manage water quality in the Horse Creek Watershed and help reduce the incidence of harmful algal bloom in Falls Lake in the future.

The goal of the Horse Creek Watershed Study is to identify opportunities that the Town can pursue to improve the water quality of Horse Creek and reduce nutrient pollution to Falls Lake. Your feedback is needed to help us address the water quality issues in your watershed.

The ecological degradation of stream channels in urbanizing areas is a pervasive problem. Urbanizing streams tend to lack an adequate buffer of streamside vegetation, while also having a higher percentage of impervious surfaces in their drainage areas. Impervious surface area prevents rainfall from being absorbed into the ground, transforming it into runoff. Streamside vegetation typically slows runoff and prevents sediment and pollutants from flowing directly into the stream during storm events. Typically, urban streams may experience higher pollutant and sediment loads, as well as erosion, instability, and loss of habitat for aquatic organisms within those streams. This stream channel degradation also serves to increase the downstream nutrient pollutions to Falls Lake because the degraded channels no longer trap and uptake nutrients as they did when they were healthy. The photos show examples of these problems in the Horse Creek watershed.

This project is supported by a grant from US Treasury as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) (External link) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds award totaling $14.5 million.

Goals of the Study 

One aspect of the Horse Creek Watershed Study aims to identify potential projects to reduce nutrients and sediment inputs to Horse Creek (and ultimately to Falls Lake). The potential impacts of this watershed study could lead to opportunities to perform stream restorations or the installation of Stormwater Control Measures that will greatly benefit the water quality in both Horse Creek and Falls Lake.

For us to pursue some of these opportunities, we need your input.

Survey 

Stakeholders within the Horse Creek Watershed are invited to complete a brief online survey.

Take the Survey

Public Meeting 

The Wake Forest Engineering Department will host a public meeting on Tuesday, June 13, at 6 p.m. via Microsoft Teams to solicit input from residents concerning the Horse Creek Watershed Study.

The session will include an informative presentation, followed by an opportunity where attendees will be able to ask questions and share suggestions (depending on the number of attendees).

Town staff and representatives from KCI will be available to answer questions and gather public input.

Click here to join the meeting

Share Your Feedback 

You're also invited to submit any questions or concerns you have using the "Share Your Feedback" form below.