Source: NCDENR, 9/19/14

The newest grants from the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund will help conserve environmentally important land and protect waterways serving millions of North Carolinians.

The North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund board agreed this week to help fund 38 projects from the mountains to the coast. The board awarded $12.7 million for land acquisition as well as water restoration and innovative stormwater projects.

“The Clean Water Management Trust Fund is proving again how we can protect our most treasured natural resources for future generations,” said Bryan Gossage, executive director of the trust fund. “We’re leveraging available financial resources to acquire land to protect drinking water supplies, provide recreational opportunities, and preserve our ecological, cultural and historic resources, and prevent encroachment on our military bases.”

Grants will help fund projects for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the state departments of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Environment and Natural Resources and Cultural Resources, as well as The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups.

A few of the projects included during this round of funding are:
      •            $123,000 to protect additional land at the Bentonville Battlefield in Johnston County, the site of the largest Civil War land battle in North Carolina. 
      •            More than $1.4 million in projects that prevent encroachment for military training exercises around Fort Bragg. The board also approved a provisional list that included a project near MCAS Cherry Point that will be funded as money becomes available. 
      •            More than $2.5 million on restoration projects to protect and enhance the quality of streams and rivers. This includes projects in Wilson, Greensboro and Huntersville.
      •            More than $4 million to conserve land in state parks, gamelands and state forests. The additional land will enable more recreational opportunities in places such as Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford County, the Deep River Greenway in Randleman, and the Wildlife Resources Commission’s Sandhills Game Land in Scotland County.
      •            More than $600,000 for innovative stormwater projects to design and test new ways to improve and protect water quality in developing watersheds. Two of the projects are in Fayetteville and Chapel Hill.        

The Clean Water Management Trust Fund helps finance the state’s significant natural resource needs, including land conservation and protection of surface water quality. The trust fund is a program in the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

You can find a complete list of awards made during the board’s Sept. 16 meeting at the Clean Water Management Trust Fund’s website, www.cwmtf.net/. A description of the awards can be found under the 2014 Grant Cycle by clicking on the “2014 CWMTF Awards – updated Sept. 16.”