The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to support stream restoration, water-based recreation and water management projects across North Carolina.
The grants were awarded to nine local governments through the Water Resources Development Grant program.
“These grants will boost public waterfront access in unique places around the state, including rare forests along the coast and the Mayo River north of the Triad,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “The grant funds will also help restore and stabilize riverbanks in several communities in western North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Helene.”
The grant awards can be used for stormwater control measures, including for drainage and flood control; stream restoration projects, including shoreline stabilization and dam or aquatic barrier removals; and to boost access to water-based recreation resources through construction of greenways near waterways, park development or water access sites. Additionally, the program provides grants for feasibility studies that support the three eligible categories of projects.
The following projects were approved for funding:
State and Local Grant Awards
- Town of Mayodan Washington Mills Park Phase I, $200,000. The project in Rockingham County includes construction of a tubing access point, multi-use granite path and public river access as part of the development of Washington Mills Park on the Mayo River.
- Mitchell County Soil and Water Conservation District Grassy Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration, $200,000. The project includes the repair of nearly a quarter of a mile of stream, planting vegetation along the stream banks and restoration of 1.3 acres of wetlands along Grassy Creek.
- Morehead City Spooner Creek Conservation Nature Park, $200,000. The project in Carteret County includes acquisition of 22.9 acres of undeveloped land to create a publicly owned nature park to provide public waterfront access and conserve shoreline including rare, maritime forestland.
- Town of West Jefferson Downtown Stormwater Control, $200,000. The project in Ashe County includes installation of several stormwater control and treatment measures.
- Town of Windsor Hoggards Mill Pond Retrofit, $200,000. The project in Bertie County includes reconstruction of a breached mill dam, removal of damaged mill infrastructure and replacement of a naturalized fish passage structure to reconnect more than 50 miles of potential stream habitat and also to store stormwater.
- Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Jerry Jordan Stream Restoration, $199,313. The project will restore a degraded stream channel, plant vegetation and enhance a wetland, as well as install stormwater control measures.
- Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District Whittaker Farm Stream Restoration, $131,074.94. The project will restore and stabilize two-tenths of a mile along the South Fork Mills River riverbank and floodplain, plant 3 acres of trees and shrubs along the river bank and install a stream crossing.
- Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District NC State University Lake Wheeler Beef Unit Watershed Restoration, $105,000. Construct several stormwater control measures to reduce erosion, sedimentation and pollutant transport from a cattle-grazing operation upstream of Yates Millpond in the Swift Creek basin.
- High Country Council of Government Aho Branch at Blue Ridge Conservancy Campus, $95,000. The project in Watauga County will stabilize and restore 0.15 miles of Aho Branch, plant vegetation along a section of the stream bank and add vernal pools, a type of seasonal wetland, on former pastureland on the Blue Ridge Conservancy Conservation Campus.
The grants were provided through the Water Resources Development Grant Program, which awards cost-sharing grants of up to 50% in two categories: state and local projects, which are cost-shared with local governments, and projects on agricultural lands that are cost-shared with the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (NRCS-EQIP). The awards are for applications submitted in the spring 2025 cycle.
The program has historically awarded two grant application cycles per year, but the program now awards grants in one spring application cycle per year, open from Jan. 1 to June 30. More details are available on the Water Resources Development Grant program website, including details about the funded projects and featured projects. For more information, contact Amin Davis, grant manager, at 919-707-9132 or amin.davis@deq.nc.gov.