May 3, 2023
The North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute recently released a new strategic plan to guide the program’s investments toward effective responses to the state’s immediate and long-term needs in water resources management. The updated plan is available on the NC WRRI website, along with a document highlighting research and engagement initiatives. “This plan represents input…
Sep 19, 2019
Austin Gray (above) received a joint North Carolina Sea Grant and Water Resources Research Institute Graduate Student Research Fellowship to study antibiotic pollution, as well as a subsequent North Carolina Sea Grant minigrant for related research. He has studied in Anne Hershey’s lab at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he is completing…
Sep 12, 2019
By Katelyn Vause Nitrate levels in wetlands fluctuate throughout the day, according to a new study from WRRI-supported researchers at NC State University. The findings have implications for how to measure and account for nitrate, which can originate from fertilizers and sometimes act as a pollutant. Michael Burchell, a professor in NC State’s Department of…
Aug 19, 2019
As North Carolina’s population grows and communities expand, questions of how to provide clean water and to carry off wastewater continuously challenge town and city planners. Septic systems are a common solution for builders constructing homes and businesses in areas where municipal water infrastructure has not yet been built out. However, as impermeable surfaces —…
Jan 23, 2019
Last June, a team of researchers used an experimental model to forecast that hypoxia — low levels of dissolved oxygen — would be more severe than average in the Neuse River Estuary during midsummer 2018. Such predictive models are important, because hypoxia can lead to ecosystem stresses, including fish kills. Daniel Obenour, an environmental engineer…
Oct 21, 2016
This is a summary of the WRRI Report #454 by Jeff Hughes, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (full report here). The research was jointly funded by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Valor Water Analytics, and four utilities in North Carolina: the Orange Water…
Aug 12, 2015
We are happy to announce the release of several new research reports from recently-funded projects supported through WRRI. Publications include… Aligning Revenue Stability and Water Conservation Goals with New Business Models in Four North Carolina Water Utilities by PI Jeff Hughes, UNC-CH Why and How to Better Understand Non-Residential Water Customers by PI Jeff Hughes,…