As the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina continues to grow, development threatens to cover valuable land in the Upper Neuse River Basin, home to nine drinking water reservoirs serving more than half a million people in eight municipalities, including the city of Raleigh. The Conservation Fund is working with local governments and nonprofit organizations to create a strategy to protect priority land in an effort to improve water quality for the region.

Thirty-six percent of the Triangle area is projected to be covered by impervious surfaces by 2040, and Raleigh expects its water customer base to increase by 545,000 to 800,000 by 2030.  In the face of increasing development, protecting land around drinking water sources is one of the most effective ways to protect water quality. Forests, wetlands and open fields absorb rain and runoff and help trap sediment and pollutants before they enter streams and lakes. Land conservation also results in added community benefits such as new parks and greenways, air purification and flood protection.

The Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative, a coalition of nonprofit conservation organizations, has helped to develop a strategic plan that prioritizes the most important areas of land that protect the area’s drinking water. In addition to strategic planning, the initiative’s efforts also include land acquisition, landowner outreach, monitoring and stewardship.

Our Role

Since the initiative’s original 2006 strategy was created, 90 properties, 84 miles of stream banks and 7,698 acres have been protected. The updated 2015-2045 Conservation Strategy sets an ambitious goal of preserving 30,000 acres over the next 30 years by working with willing landowners to protect priority properties.

For the updated planning process, TCF led the production of an enhanced GIS-based Watershed Protection Model, which uses the best available science and geographic data to map the most important areas for land conservation, based on four main goals:

• Protecting water sources
• Preserving upland forests and farms
• Protecting wetlands and floodplains
• Protecting vulnerable areas with steep slopes and wet soils

The initiative partners presented the Conservation Strategy to the Raleigh City Council at a work session in 2016.

The model identifies more than 17,000 parcels of land totaling more than 260,000 acres in the Upper Neuse watershed that are eligible for funding from  Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Program.

The Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative is coordinated by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, and includes The Conservation Fund, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Eno River Association, Tar River Land Conservancy, Triangle Greenways Council, Triangle Land Conservancy, local governments and state agencies. Together with willing landowners, the partners are protecting critical natural areas to ensure the long-term health of drinking water in the Upper Neuse River Basin.

The initiative’s efforts have been funded through Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Fund. Revenue is generated from volumetric charges on water utility customers, averaging about 60 cents a month per household in the city. Significant additional financial support from local governments in the basin, including Durham, Granville, Orange and Wake counties and the cities of Durham and Creedmoor, along with the state’s Clean Water Management Trust fund has been critical to the initiative’s success.

Why This Project Matters

Land protection efforts are a key part of a comprehensive strategy for clean water and pollution reduction that highlights both gray and green infrastructure investments needed for clean drinking water. The city of Raleigh, already a nationally recognized leader in protecting water quality, will use the Watershed Protection Model to help direct water quality investments to the highest-priority projects.