Our Goal: Enhance Coastal Water Quality and Reduce Flooding
Intense rainstorms cause flooding and water quality degradation as the runoff funnels pollutants to our coastal waters. The impacts are magnified by the altered landscape that channels rain instead of absorbing it. Reducing the volume of stormwater runoff is key to minimizing flooding and restoring coastal waters.
Clean coastal water is the foundation of our coastal economy and ecosystems and we depend on it for work and recreation. That’s why water quality will always be a priority for the Coastal Federation.
15,000 acres
of wetlands restored
billions
of gallons of stormwater runoff reduced
Stormwater Reduction Strategies
Nature-based stormwater strategies improve water quality and reduce flooding, resulting in cleaner & more productive coastal waters.
Intense rainstorms cause flooding and water quality degradation as the runoff funnels pollutants to our coastal waters. Impacts are magnified by the altered landscape that channels rain instead of absorbing it.
The Coastal Federation partners with numerous stakeholders to advance the use of nature-based stormwater strategies including strategic land acquisition and conservation easements, wetland restoration, urban stormwater retrofits, and other best management practices to reduce nutrient and bacteria loadings into coastal waterways and reduce flooding.
Showcasing these projects helps advance nature-based strategies as standard practice and provides valuable opportunities for developers, design professionals, contractors, elected and appointed officials, farmers, and landowners to better understand, utilize, and promote nature-based strategies.
Learn more about nature-based strategies for effective stormwater management in the North Carolina Action Plan.
Wetlands Restoration is one of the strategies like urban retrofits, land acquisition and wetland restoration, that are all nature-based stormwater strategies.
Wetlands tie together land and water and are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world.
The United States has lost over half of the wetlands in the lower 48 states, and the losses continue at an estimate of over 60,000 acres per year.
However, North Carolina is at a crucial point: unlike some areas like the Chesapeake Bay or Louisiana, we still have a fair amount of coastal wetlands left and our water quality is still relatively healthy. This is important, because it is FAR less costly to protect something than to restore it.
Wetlands have many important functions that benefit people and wildlife:
Provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife and plants
Filter, clean and store water
Act as sponges to collect and hold flood waters
Absorb wind and tidal forces during storms, protecting the land behind them
Provide places of beauty for fishing, kayaking and exploring
Control erosion
Watershed Restoration Progress
The Federation has prioritized the restoration of the Stump Sound and Newport River watersheds and is actively finalizing formal plans to serve as the foundation for replicating and restoring their natural hydrology. Make these plans top priority
In 2006, partners began to talk about the decline in the quality of local shellfishing waters, mainly due to stormwater pollution. The Coastal Federation teamed up with Brunswick County, state agencies, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare a study and restoration plan for the river. The plan targets simple solutions to infiltrate rain and reduce polluted runoff.
The Coastal Federation teamed up with Swansboro to develop a watershed restoration plan for the town which lays out a framework for reducing stormwater runoff that flows into Foster, Halls, Hammocks, Historic, and Ward/Hawkins Creeks ultimately reaching the White Oak.
The Mattamuskeet Drainage Association is working with the N.C. Coastal Federation, researchers from N.C. State University and other stakeholders to carry out a watershed restoration plan that was developed with a grant from the N.C. Division of Water Quality. These partners recognize the need to reduce the volume of drainage water that is pumped into shellfish waters. The networks of canals and ditches throughout the drainage association and the nearby gamelands transport naturally occurring bacteria to the Pamlico Sound. This voluntary plan identifies specific projects that reduce the amount of water pumped into coastal waters, and at the same time provides for improved water-management for agriculture, forestry, and wildlife.
The White Oak River Restoration Plan promotes simple solutions to infiltrate rain and reduce polluted runoff flowing into Dubling Creek, Boathouse Creek, Hills Bay, and the waters north of the N.C. 24 bridges in Cedar Point, on the Carteret County side of the river.
Nature-based Stormwater Strategies are an effective and economical strategy to reduce flooding and improve water quality by mimicking natural water flow to vegetated stormwater infiltration spaces, reducing long-term maintenance costs of conventional stormwater systems.
Nature-based Stormwater Strategies such as permeable pavement, cisterns and rain gardens promote infiltration and rainwater reuse. These techniques reduce stormwater runoff even on high density development sites.
Nature-based Stormwater Strategies are an effective and economical strategy to reduce flooding and improve water quality by disconnecting impervious surfaces and promoting infiltration on site.
The North Carolina Coastal Federation, PFAST Network and UNC–Wilmington hosted Emerging Contaminants in the Cape Fear Region: University Collaborations on Environmental, Drinking Water Supply and Human Health Effects on Friday, May 31 in Wilmington.
The Watershed Management Planning Guidebook provides detailed guidance on how a community can replicate natural surface water hydrology to improve water quality by determining the stormwater runoff volume of a watershed in various land use scenarios and utilizing Best Management Practices (BMPs) techniques, specifically Low Impact Development (LID), to reduce the total volume of runoff.
The Lower Cape Fear River Blueprint is a collaborative planning effort, led by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, to protect, manage and restore the important estuarine and riverine natural resources of the lower Cape Fear River.
In 2006, partners began to talk about the decline in the quality of local shellfishing waters, mainly due to stormwater pollution. The Coastal Federation teamed up with Brunswick County, state agencies, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare a study and restoration plan for the river. The plan targets simple solutions to infiltrate rain and reduce polluted runoff.
While wetlands can’t protect us from the devastating flooding of a storm like Hurricane Florence, healthy habitats – and good planning – can shield us from some of the worst impacts and can help our communities recover more quickly. The North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Coastal Resilience Initiative strengthens our natural defenses by restoring habitats and protecting our coastal communities.
