WRRI to Receive Environmental Grant Funding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, December 7, 2022

Contact: Christy Perrin, christy_perrin@ncsu.edu

The North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) will receive $205,440 to work with the Walnut Creek Wetlands Community Partnership to install green infrastructure and implement wetland restoration practices to reduce and treat stormwater runoff in neighborhoods near downtown Raleigh.

The project is among those announced recently by NC Attorney General Josh Stein to preserve natural resources and ensure clean air and drinking water in North Carolina through the Environmental Enhancement Grant (EEG) program. Across the state, $2.5 million in EEG grants will fund 23 projects 

“We’re excited that the Environmental Enhancement grant will support our connected Walnut Creek Wetlands Community Partnership projects,” said Christy Perrin, Sustainable Waters and Communities Coordinator at the Water Resources Research Institute. “It will allow us to reduce stormwater runoff from Biltmore Hills Park that contributes to flooding in the historic Rochester Heights neighborhood, to enhance the aquatic ecology, and engage community members at the new Bailey Drive Gateway to the Walnut Creek Wetland Park just downstream. The EEG grant will help implement plans developed with community members and intended to address environmental injustices experienced in this Southeast Raleigh community. It also leverages an EPA grant we received to begin the work at Biltmore Hills Park.” 

“This project will use environmentally friendly solutions to restore local wetlands and reduce stormwater runoff,” Stein said in a news release. “Importantly, it will help address the environmental harms that the residents of Rochester Heights neighborhood have suffered for years.”

For more information and to see the full EEG announcements,  visit: https://ncdoj.gov/attorney-general-josh-stein-announces-more-than-1-1-million-in-environmental-grants-to-central-nc

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