The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Flood Resiliency Blueprint program has scheduled a public information session on draft flood resilience plans for two North Carolina river basins.

During the July 20 virtual session, officials will provide information and gather feedback on draft plans for the Lumber River Basin Action Strategy and the Tar-Pamlico River Basin Action Strategy.

The Webex session will begin at 6 p.m. using meeting number/access code 2424 744 7031, password blueprint (25837746 when dialing from a phone). To join by telephone dial +1-415-655-0003.

River basin action strategies tailor flood resilience plans to each basin’s unique characteristics and needs, and outline actionable steps to empower communities to proactively reduce flooding impacts.

The strategies were developed using data from the Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool with input from local Blueprint partners and the River Basin Advisory Groups.

DEQ is accepting public comment through a public feedback form on the draft river basin strategies through July 27. Comments may also be submitted by emailing the Blueprint Program at blueprint@deq.nc.gov with “RBAS Feedback” in the subject line.

The North Carolina General Assembly tasked DEQ with developing the Flood Resiliency Blueprint in 2021 to support the planning, evaluation and implementation of flood resilience strategies.

The Blueprint is designed to equip local governments, the state and supporting organizations with data, tools and processes to better understand flood risk, identify community needs and guide strategic investments to reduce the risk of floods and strengthen resilience.

DEQ has awarded more than $43 million for 84 Blueprint projects in six of the state’s 17 river basins.

The Lumber and Tar-Pamlico river basin action strategies are to be delivered to the General Assembly later this summer.

North Carolina’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool now includes enhanced flood mapping and risk information for five river basins in Eastern North Carolina.

The online tool designed to help local governments, agencies and nongovernmental partners develop, evaluate and prioritize resilience actions has been updated with new nonregulatory or “advisory” flood maps for the Cape Fear, Lumber, Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and White Oak river basins.

The need for new maps and modeling efforts were identified in the draft blueprint, which was created by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality at the direction of the General Assembly.

The updates were made through extensive coordination with local leaders, other state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, university researchers and evaluating programs in other states like Texas and Louisiana for guidance, according to an NCDEQ release.

NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson, in the release, stated that research from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill found that more than 90,000 buildings in Eastern North Carolina flooded at least once from 1996 until 2020, and 43% of those buildings were outside the mapped Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain. “The General Assembly’s investment in updated modeling and mapping means that North Carolinians in five river basins now have a more accurate picture of their actual flooding risk, Wilson said.”   

The improved mapping was done in partnership with the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program, one overseen by the North Carolina Emergency Management.

“NC Emergency Management is proud to provide flood mapping support to DEQ which will produce additional flood mapping products to build resilient communities across the state,” N.C. Emergency Management Director Will Ray stated. “As part of a multi-year advisory flood data web application development project, which began in 2022, the NCEM Floodplain Management Program was able to provide data and resources to assist in this project, once again showing the whole-of-community approach to disaster preparedness In North Carolina.” 

The mapping includes numerical models that simulate surface runoff and routing on a landscape, and are available for previously unmapped or undermapped basins too small to be included on regulatory maps and extend beyond what is normally included in traditional regulatory floodplain mapping.

The maps also include areas that flood despite being many miles from the nearest stream and allow communities to explore their future risk associated with projected growth patterns and the changing climate fueling more frequent and severe storms and sea level rise.

“These new maps, available through our Flood Resiliency Blueprint Tool, mean that Eastern North Carolinians can make more informed decisions and better investments to build their resilience in the face of more frequent and severe flooding,” Flood Resiliency Blueprint Manager Stuart Brown said in a release.

River Basin Action Strategies for the five river basins are expected to be available this summer, and new maps for the French Broad River Basin available this fall, according to DEQ.

Fishing for striped bass by hook and line will be allowed in sections of the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers April 1-30.

The season for harvesting striped bass by this fishing method is being allowed under a temporary rule amendment and proclamation the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission approved this month.

Areas open to harvest include inland and joint fishing waters of the Tar-Pamlico River and its tributaries upstream of a line between Gum Point near Mixon Creek and Fork Point near Durham Creek in Beaufort County.

Inland and joint fishing waters of the Neuse River and its tributaries upstream of a line between Cooper Point near Good Creek in Pamlico County and Fisher Landing Point in Craven County will also open to harvest striped bass.

Inland water tributaries to both rivers downstream of the boundaries established by the Wildlife Resources Commission are closed year-round for striped bass and striped bass hybrid fishing.

Striped bass and striped bass hybrids creel limits are one fish in aggregate with a minimum size limit of 18 inches. However, no fish between 22 and 27 inches long may be harvested.

Anglers who keep any striped bass caught in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers must report their harvest electronically through an online webform or iPhone app provided by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

The regulatory change is part of the cooperative striped bass management between the Wildlife Resources Commission and the division, both of which recently determined that most striped bass using these areas of the rivers are hatchery fish.

“These rivers have been stocked for over 30 years and despite this effort, recovery goals have not been met,” Assistant Chief of the Division of Inland Fisheries Ben Ricks stated in a release. “There appears to be a bottleneck in an early life stage of naturally reproduced striped bass that limits survival. While we investigate this issue, striped bass stockings in the Tar and Neuse rivers will provide angling opportunities similar to reservoir striped bass stockings.”

Proclamations to open a similar harvest season and provide regulatory consistency in Coastal and Joint Fishing waters of the same area have also been approved by the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Staff for the two state agencies that manage fisheries in North Carolina waters have planned an informational meeting in early November about management changes for striped bass in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have scheduled the meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Washington Civic Center, 110 N. Gladden St., Washington.

Estuarine striped bass are currently managed under the amendment 2 for the fishery management plan that was adopted in November 2022, and revised in 2024, but retained the no-possession rule the Marine Fisheries Commission put in place in 2019. The rule means that if a striped bass is caught in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers, it must be released.

An analysis ​p​resented to the commission in August shows that the closures have not resulted in increased striped bass abundance in these rivers despite continued stocking efforts.

Based on the adaptive management in place under this amendment, the two agencies have developed measures that focus on harvesting stocked fish in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers but limits harvest of Albemarle-Roanoke striped bass that also reside in these rivers.

The following are the changes that will go into effect next year:

Recreational fishery

• An open recreational harvest season April 1-30 upriver of the large-mesh distance from shore demarcation lines in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers and associated tributaries.
• A one fish per person, per day recreational creel limit.
• An 18 to 22 inches total length recreational harvest slot, or less than 27 inches total length.

commercial fishery

• An open commercial harvest season in April 1-30 upriver of the large-mesh distance from shore demarcation lines in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers and associated tributaries.
• A one fish per day trip limit.
• An 18 to 22 inches total length recreational harvest slot, or less than 27 inches total length.
• Allow hook-and-line as a legal commercial gear in the striped bass fishery.
• Continue commercial tagging requirements.
• Maintain tie-down and distance from shore requirements for gill nets.