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RALEIGH – The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint is providing funding to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS), Division of Soil and Water Conservation Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP) to implement stream debris and sediment removal projects. DEQ is allocating over $4.7 million to 32 StRAP projects that will help communities across North Carolina prevent flooding during large storm events.

“After seeing the devastation of torrential storms like Helene, there is no doubt that flood resiliency must be a top priority for North Carolina,” said DEQ Secretary Mary Penny Kelley. “I am proud of DEQ’s partnership with the Department of Agriculture that allows us to quickly grant millions of dollars to communities improving their streams and waterways.”

As directed by the General Assembly, DEQ is administering $96 million in funding for projects to address flooding in the following river basins: Cape Fear, French Broad, Lumber, Neuse, Tar-Pamlico and White Oak.

This effort benefits communities preventing future flooding, restoring streams and reducing the risk to life and property. The Blueprint’s contribution supplements the StRAP program funding and supports 32 projects, six projects in the Cape Fear River Basin, two projects in the French Broad, six projects in the Lumber, five projects in the Neuse and 13 projects in the Tar-Pamlico.

“With the original allocation, we were able to award grants for 245 projects by 88 local governments, Soil and Water Conservation districts and nonprofits for stream debris and sediment removal,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler. “The partnership with DEQ provided a huge boost to fund another 32 projects in 23 more communities.”

This partnership and others DEQ has developed allows the Flood Resiliency Blueprint to quickly fund effective projects through existing grant programs with proven track records of project implementation and long-term sustainability.

“We’ve seen great work done with previous StRAP projects thanks to our local partners in Soil and Water Conservation districts, local governments and other entities who are committed to making their communities more resilient to flooding,” said David Williams, director of the NCDA&CS Division of Soil and Water Conservation. “Demand is high for more funding to assist even more communities, and the financial support from DEQ means we can help with even more projects that would have been left off this list this year.”

About the North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint 

In 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly directed the DEQ Division of Mitigation Services to develop a statewide Flood Resiliency Blueprint. The Blueprint is intended to serve as the backbone of NC’s flood resiliency planning and be based on the best available science, stakeholder engagement, and sound decision-making and result in actionable projects. The goal is to make North Carolina more resilient to flooding disasters, by limiting the extent and severity of flooding and by building systems that allow communities to recover more quickly and limit future risk. The Blueprint team is developing a decision support tool to help local governments, agencies, and non-governmental partners develop, evaluate, and prioritize resilience actions as well as plan and marshal funding to implement those priorities.

About the NCDA&CS Division of Soil and Water Conservation StRAP 

The Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP) provides grants to projects that help reduce flooding by protecting and restoring the drainage infrastructure of North Carolina’s waterways. The program was created by the N.C. General Assembly, which approved $38 million in funding for StRAP in the budget appropriations bill for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. A second round of funding was approved in 2024. The program is administered by the state’s Soil & Water Conservation Commission, working closely with the NCDA&CS Division of Soil and Water Conservation.