The NC Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint program released the Tar-Pamlico River Basin Action Strategy (RBAS), a comprehensive framework designed to guide long-term flood resilience planning and decision-making across the basin. Developed with local input and informed by existing flood planning efforts and vulnerability assessments, the strategy identifies 33 prioritized actions to help Tar-Pamlico communities reduce flood risk and strengthen resilience.
The prioritized actions include structural and nonstructural projects, from stormwater system and roadway improvements to protecting critical infrastructure and expanding nature-based solutions. It also identifies building-level mitigation projects, including elevating or floodproofing buildings, along with policy and planning measures to support long-term community resilience.
"The Tar-Pamlico River Basin Action Strategy will help communities identify the resilience actions that will make the most of every dollar that they invest to reduce flood risk,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “Communities in the basin have seen firsthand the destruction that follows hurricanes like Matthew and Floyd, and this Strategy will help them prepare for the next storm, saving lives, homes, businesses and money.”
All identified resilience actions for the basin are stored and maintained in the Flood Resiliency Blueprint tool, DEQ’s online decision-making tool, which provides users with data-driven flood risk and vulnerability assessments. The tool also allows users to develop and evaluate flood resilience actions. Communities can access this tool to update localized flood plans with the support of Blueprint staff as new information and opportunities develop.
The action strategy is informed by a basin-wide vulnerability assessment, community capacity assessment and gap analysis, as well as extensive engagement with local governments, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other partners across the basin. Local governments developed and submitted Local Action Plans through the Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool, which outline locally identified flood resilience actions. Of the 33 prioritized actions included in the RBAS, 24 of these were directly submitted either by or in collaboration with local governments. The Tar-Pamlico River Basin Advisory Group, made up of experts from state agencies, local and regional governments, nonprofits, and academic institutions, provided technical expertise and guidance throughout the process. This group helped to identify flood risks, understand local needs and capacity, and prioritize actions to reduce the impacts of flooding now and in the future.
The Tar-Pamlico River Basin Action Strategy and supporting materials are available here.
DEQ will continue collaborating with local governments and partners as they use the Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool as a resource to support flood resilience planning and maintain up-to-date information on resiliency actions and funding opportunities. The Flood Resiliency Blueprint currently serves six of North Carolina’s 17 river basins. DEQ released the Neuse RBAS in July 2026 and will release the remaining four RBAS (Lumber, Cape Fear, White Oak, and French Broad) in the coming months.