RALEIGH – Four coastal governments have been awarded a total of $75,000 through the planning and management grants program to be used for natural hazard planning projects, the state Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday.
The program is intended to help governments in the 20 coastal counties fund projects that assist in developing and implementing land use plans and management strategies for coastal resources. The state Division of Coastal Management awarded the funds to help these communities plan for future storms and flooding.
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“We want to do everything we can to help coastal communities plan for natural disasters,” said Michael Regan, secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, in a statement. “These funds will empower local governments to increase their resiliency to coastal storms and flooding.”
DCM staff selected the following recipients based on criteria established by the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission:
- Beaufort County received $20,000 to address shoreline erosion along Wright’s Creek.
- Duck received $20,000 to assess the vulnerability of town structures and transportation systems to coastal hazards and sea level rise.
- Hyde County received $15,000 for engineering projects related to the Swan Quarter flood control design project.
- Nags Head received $20,000 for stormwater modeling that will be incorporated into the town’s stormwater capital improvement plan.
Funding for planning and management grants comes through a cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management. Projects include expanded education and outreach efforts; special planning efforts focused on coastal storms, flooding, and erosion; natural resource management issues; improvements in intergovernmental coordination; targeted research or studies; and the development of local ordinances.
