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
Featured Projects
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Explore Watershed Restoration Plans
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Smart Yards
This guide includes simple Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Smart Yard projects to reduce stormwater and improve the health of our coastal waters.
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.
This fact sheet details the importance of the Carteret County Community College Living Shoreline as well as the Bogue Sound area in general. It provides information on how the Federation and the community college are working together to protect and create habitat, prevent erosion, and improve water quality.
This Fact Sheet provides information on the NC Coastal Federation's joint efforts with Airlie Gardens, NOAA's Community-based Restoration Program, and Restore America's Estuaries. This project's goal is to link coastal habitat restoration with environmental education efforts in NC's southeastern coastal region.
This fact sheet details the 600-acre pilot project that was completed in 2010 by the NC Coastal Federation on Mattamuskeet Ventures Farm. This project was developed to reduce agricultural runoff into various water ways while also offsetting salt water infiltration issues faced by farmers in the region.
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.
This fact sheet detail the work being done at Eagle Point Golf Course to prevent furth degradation and improve water quality in the shellfishing water of Little Creek in New Hanover County.
This fact sheet details the water quality issues in the White Oak River and the positive impacts preserving Jones Island has on water quality, native plants, and habitat protection in the area.
This fact sheet details the stormwater runoff issues faced by three watersheds near North River Farms and how restoring the 6,000 acres of farm land back into wetland will pre-treat agricultural runoff, improve overall water quality, and provide habitat for native plants and animals.
This fact sheet details the overarching issues in the Stump Sound watershed as well as the degradation to Morris Landing caused by unregulated use. This resource explain how the conservation easement, living shoreline, and on going volunteer work are restoring the area while preserving it for future use.
