Officials with the N.C. Division of Water Resources have announced the recipients of the state’s annual Source Water Protection awards that recognize individuals and organizations that take exceptional measures to protect sources of public drinking water.
The awards were presented by the Source Water Collaborative at the Water Resources Research Institute’s conference held this month in Raleigh. Any individual, group, organization, or agency that engages in activities to protect drinking water at its source may be eligible for an award.
“We were fortunate to receive nominations for several innovative projects that will easily serve as models for other organizations,” said Rebecca Sadosky, who works for the state Division of Water Resources and serves as one of the Source Water Collaborative leaders. “It is our hope that this year’s award recipients will inspire future projects.”
Award-winners were announced for three categories:
Surface Water Planning Award
- City of Durham, Department of Water Management and Triangle Land Conservancy’s Watershed Protection Plan for Durham’s Water Supplies project
Surface Water Implementation and Education Award
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Battle Grove Regenerative Stormwater Conveyance project
Surface Water/Groundwater Implementation Award
- East Carolina University, Charles Humphrey, Guy Iverson, Christa Sanderford, Environmental Health Sciences Program, Coastal Resources Management Program and Coastal Water Resources Center’s Improving Septic System Performance and Water Quality in the Lick Creek Watershed project
The Source Water Collaborative is a statewide partnership with volunteers from non-profit organizations, universities, state, local and federal agencies, professional associations and regional councils of government. The group develops and supports strategies that preserve the lakes, streams, rivers and aquifers used for drinking water, as well as the land that protects and recharges these sources of water. To learn more about the Source Water Collaborative, visit http://ncswc.org/.