WILMINGTON — The Department of Environmental Quality has provided more than $9 million to various entities to help mitigate flooding.
Of that, roughly $1.3 million is going to a project in Wilmington — one of 15 chosen.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint is working with the North Carolina Land and Water Fund (NCLWF) to implement flood reduction and floodplain protection projects. The money provides approximately 465 acre-feet of flood water retention — or 152 million gallons — during flood events.
City of Wilmington received the money to be used toward restoring urban portions of Hewletts Creek. There are large neighborhoods surrounding the creek that endure stormwater flooding.
City spokesperson Dylan Lee said the appropriation of the funds will be on a future council agenda, yet to be determined.
In the past Hewletts Creek has struggled with high levels of fecal bacteria and poor water quality, the primary cause being stormwater runoff from “intense, hardened urbanization” in the watershed.
“These grants will help us continue to address the adverse effects of climate change and severe weather events,” Reid Wilson, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said in a press release. “This new strategic partnership will benefit flood-prone communities across North Carolina.”
See all the projects funded by DEQ’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint here.
In addition and directed by North Carolina General Assembly, $96 million from DEQ will fund projects at river basins, including the Cape Fear.
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