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RALEIGH — Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight wants the state to give cities more time to clean up streams that feed Jordan Lake in the Triangle.

“Since the rules were put in place, a lot has happened in our economy,” Knight told members of Guilford County’s delegation to the General Assembly on Wednesday. He said the city needs more time to plan for expenses involved in complying with the rules.

The rules were first drafted by environmental regulators in response to federal and state laws demanding Jordan Lake be cleaned up. The lake provides both drinking water and a recreation area for residents in the Triangle.

Those rules were appealed to the General Assembly by cities and businesses unhappy that areas upstream would bear the cost of the lake clean up. At the time, Greensboro argued it did not contribute much to the lake’s pollution.

Lawmakers hashed out a compromise in 2009 after bruising negotiations that involved cities, business groups — particularly home builders — environmental advocates and regulators.

In general, the rules require cities and counties upstream of Jordan Lake to take steps to clean up the water flowing out of their territory. Parts of the regulations, for example, lay out guidelines for how much rainwater can leave newly built neighborhoods.

Earlier this month, Knight and other Greensboro officials asked that the rules be repealed entirely. That met with a withering reception from lawmakers, who said complete repeal was unlikely.

Knight, along with City Councilman Zack Matheny and several city staffers, submitted a much-scaled back proposal Wednesday.

They propose delaying requirements involving cleanup of water discharged from sewage treatment plants. Under Knight’s proposals, cities in areas with streams that feed Jordan Lake would get a four-year reprieve to 2020 before they would have to meet new discharge standards.

Knight and Matheny told lawmakers the estimated cost of the sewer plant improvements was $70 million. That’s money the city didn’t have to spend as it struggled to cope with the recession.

Spending that kind of money would likely require an increase in water rates or a rise in property taxes.

“We just want an extension of time,” Matheny said.

Lawmakers said they wanted to get more information before reopening a bill that would have statewide implications and probably bring on a major legislative battle.

Knight pledged to round up support from other big-city mayors, who are meeting in Greensboro today for an annual conference.

Sen. Don Vaughan said the delegation might take up the rule change if Knight gets a groundswell of support.

“Cleaning up Jordan Lake means cleaning up the streams that feed it, which is good for Greensboro residents,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, state director for Environment North Carolina, which was part of the Jordan Lake negotiations.

She said it was “disappointing” that Greensboro was trying to adjust the rules after being part of the negotiations that settled them two years ago.

Matheny said Greensboro merely took the best deal it could get at the time. With control of both the House and Senate now shifted from Democrats to Republicans, Matheny said the city might find a more receptive audience.

Sen. Stan Bingham, a Denton Republican who sits on the board that drafted the original rules, said he was “reluctant” to tinker with the guidelines.

“It derails the whole legislative process,” Bingham said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com