CTNC collaborates with state and local leaders to build resilience for communities and their streams, rivers and reservoirs.
North Carolina has some 3,820 square miles of inland waterways that make up 10% of the total state. The state’s future resilience is dependent on communities finding innovative solutions to protect the health of their rivers, streams, and coastlines. CTNC is working with partners in highly vulnerable communities to find solutions to flooding, soil erosion, drought, and water contamination – all made more challenging by our changing climate.
Innovative solutions are being developed across our state so everyone can become more resilient to ongoing changes. By conserving land in watersheds, water can filter gradually through the soil, trapping sediment and pollutants before reaching streams and lakes that provide drinking water for rapidly growing regions.
It is critical to work alongside communities to conserve intact natural areas along rivers and streams.
As our changing climate continues to add water quality and quantity challenges to communities, we have the opportunity to learn what adaptation and mitigation strategies work for individual needs. CTNC will continue to be on the ground working with local leaders, organizations, educators, and businesses to find solutions that will benefit us all in the decades to come.
Princeville Collaborative (2018 to Present)
Eastern North Carolina communities like Princeville are experiencing repeated major flood events that destroy homes and businesses. With the increasing threat of climate change, more communities will experience these impacts in future years. The natural infrastructure solutions being developed and modeled by CTNC, community partners, and Princeville leaders will benefit North Carolinians statewide as flooding and other climate-related events become more common.
Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Program (2012-2020)
Water quality is declining in the upper Neuse basin due to rapid development and population growth. Through the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative, a program of Raleigh Water, CTNC provided funding to advance land trusts’ ability to conserve 100 miles of forests, wetlands and open fields to slow down rain and runoff. In partnership with Raleigh Water, CTNC supported the efforts of Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Eno River Association, Tar River Land Conservancy, Triangle Greenways Council, Triangle Land Conservancy and The Conservation Fund to conserve critical lands upstream of these growing urban areas until 2020.
Together, we can find innovative solutions to build watershed resilience for North Carolina communities.