Second in a series on the Albemarle region’s environmental-economic connections.
Attorney General Josh Stein was at the Tall Glass of Water county park in Bertie County last month to meet with four groups whose projects had benefited from the Environmental Enhancement Grants that his office had awarded in eastern North Carolina.
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The EEG funds are through a 25-year agreement the state and Smithfield Farms entered into in 2000 as part of a settlement stemming from hog waste pollution caused by company farms. The grants have been awarded since 2002.
Although advocates say EEGs have had an effect wherever they have been awarded, for Tall Glass of Water, the impact was particularly significant.
“The environmental enhancement money helped with the outdoor spaces that needed to be repaired,” Robin Payne told Coastal Review in an interview shortly after the Stein visit. Payne has been the facilitator for the project for the county since late 2019.
Those funds are what enabled Dr. Bo Dame, professor of biology and physical sciences at Chowan University, to bring his students to Tall Glass of Water as part of an ongoing restoration and study program of the site’s environment.
“We were asked to help with planning for wetland restoration … establish an ecological monitoring program. That program has a very strong water quality component to it,” he told Stein, adding that he hoped the program could eventually be a part of the local school system’s curriculum. “The idea is that we would implement that monitoring program until the restoration was done and a little bit beyond that, and then hand it over to the (local) schools.”
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Sometime next month, the first phase of the Tall Glass of Water park is expected to be completed. The restrooms will be ready, the wheelchair-accessible ramp to the beach will be built, picnic tables in place, and a site the Tall Glass of Water website describes as “unlike anywhere else in Northeastern North Carolina” will be fully opened to the public.
The next phase is to feature an outdoor performance area.
It is a lush, scenic site. An open field gives way to high bluffs that overlook the river. There is a sandy beach that extends for 2,200 feet. Looking south along the beach, the Chowan River has carved deeply into the soil, creating shear bluffs 20 feet high in places. Tree roots are exposed, looping out of the dirt then back into the bluff.
The county purchased the property in 2016 in part thanks to a North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant. With its natural beauty and setting, it is, Payne said, the best possible fit for a county park.
“Bertie County looked at their assets, and they’re all nature-based assets,” she said.
It is a point of view that marine geologist Dr. Stan Riggs addressed during Stein’s visit.
“When I came in here, what became obvious, is that this is a world-class water system that surrounds Bertie County,” Riggs said. “So let’s look at the resources here … and what can we do with these with respect to long-term ecotourism and sustainability.”
Asked about Riggs’ contribution to Bertie County, Payne told the Coastal Review that his vision for the county extended well beyond the 147 acres at the site.
“Bertie County has such a wealth of natural resources and their geological history, there’s just so much there that’s worth protecting and (Riggs) has been a dynamo in helping the county do it,” she said.
Walking with the attorney general along the bluff, Riggs explained the geographical and ecological history of the area. As Stein and the other group members came to a trail that would eventually cut through a heavily forested part of the site, Riggs explained how important it was to understand what the county and state had at Tall Glass of Water.
At the base of the hills, the dark waters of a swamp reflected water tupelo, common spatterdock and other trees that thrive in a wetland environment.
“These are incredible ravines and they’re so steep that they could never be logged,” Riggs said. “This is probably one of the most perfect examples of a mature North Carolina hardwood forest. You’ve got a few big trees, you’ve got middle-sized trees, you’ve got new, young growth. This has probably never been logged, because there’s plenty of wood out here on the flatlands.”
Especially at the north end of the site where the swamp lies, the Tall Glass of Water project has been called ambitious.
“The TGOW Wetlands Restoration Northern Boundary project goal is to reestablish pre-agriculture hydrology and plant communities that support the healthy functioning of the incised ephemeral stream for improved water quality and habitat,” the Tall Glass of Water website states.
But for Bertie County, the Tall Glass of Water project represents more than environmental rehabilitation.
Some 2 miles of trails wind their way through the forests and wetlands. Almost surrounded by Salmon River Natural Area, the trails on the north end connect with a trail leading into the natural area.
The beach is relatively narrow, but the sand is soft and with 2,200 feet along the Chowan River, public access to water activities on the river are available for the first time in the county’s history, something Bertie County Board Chair Ron Wesson who grew up in the county, said is particularly important.
“I’ve never had access because there’s never been a public access on the Albemarle Sound,” he said. “There’s been a lot of private beach clubs, but kids like me when I grew up here, you could never access any of those. So having a public source access to the sound is very important for us.”
Although the EEG award has been invaluable in completing the first phase of Tall Glass of Water, Payne emphasized that it is not the only grant or source of funding for the project. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was also involved.
“The USDA paid for planning money and then the Environmental Enhancement (Grant) helped with the outdoor spaces that needed to be repaired,” she said. “And then the county, through legislative appropriation, and some of their ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds were able to cobble together the entire picture.”
The money to complete the project though is just one part of the picture. Asked about the long-term maintenance of Tall Glass of Water, Wesson, the board chair, was emphatic that the county understood that it would take a commitment on their part.
“We would not have gone down this road unless we were sure that this is something that was not a just a short-term venture, but a long-term venture, decades really, because we need to make sure there is a reason to come to Bertie County,” he said.
Next in the series: Testing the waters.
