Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests
Friday, February 12, 2010

CTNC, UNCWI earn multimillion-dollar protection grant

Five conservation groups working to protect important land and water resources in the Upper Neuse River Basin have won a multimillion-dollar grant to promote forest health and clean drinking water.

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities named CTNC one of three recipients nationwide of grant funding under the Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests Initiative (HWHF), which seeks to advance the connection between forest management and water quality and quantity. CTNC will administer the funds on behalf of the groups participating locally, which include the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Eno River Association, Triangle Land Conservancy and the Tar River Land Conservancy.

CTNC was chosen because of its role as facilitator of the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative, which seeks to protect lands critical to the long-term health of drinking water supplies in the basin, from groundwater to streams to reservoirs.

Under the Initiative, at least $6 million will be invested in the three watersheds, which includes $2 million in matching funds that will be provided by the project partners.

UNCWI helps provide safe, abundant drinking water supplies in a cost-effective manner by conserving undeveloped land that buffers rivers and reservoirs. Protection of these lands provides natural filtration of the water by reducing the flow of polluted runoff and sediment into local waterways.

The partners have protected more than 46 miles of stream buffers and 4,475 acres, thanks to generous support from the City of Raleigh; the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund; Wake, Durham and Orange counties; and other government funding partners.