SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Cape Fear Public Utility Authority is seeking public input on its draft Source Water Protection Plan, developed in partnership with organizations across Southeastern North Carolina. The plan outlines strategies to protect the Cape Fear River from point- and non-point pollution sources.
The draft includes short- and long-term goals to mitigate pollution and establish regional resources on source water protection, inventory potential contaminants and promote education about water protection. It expands on CFPUA’s 2020 Source Water Risk and Resiliency Plan released in 2020, which identified more than 150 potential contaminant sources along 160 miles of the Cape Fear River’s watershed.
Community partners including Brunswick County Public Utilities, Pender County Utilities, the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority, the Fayetteville Public Works Commission, the City of Wilmington/Heal Our Waterways, New Hanover County Planning and Land Use, Feast Down East, the N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation, the Cape Fear River Assembly, and Cape Fear River Watch all aided in the development of the plan.
If it’s approved by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, it would be the first approved Source Water Protection Plan in North Carolina’s coastal plain, and the first for a portion of the Cape Fear River.
Public comments can be submitted by filling out a form online by June 24.
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