Press Releases

Localized heavier rainfall in parts of North Carolina may help alleviate demand for water for irrigation or other uses but did not lead to substantial improvements in the state’s drought conditions.

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson welcomed the new state budget signed by Governor Josh Stein. The budget includes important investments in key Department priorities, including efforts to reduce people’s exposure to harmful forever chemicals, maintain healthy air quality, make communities resilient to increasingly frequent and severe weather, and invest in continued Helene recovery efforts.  

The NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint program (Blueprint) will hold a public information session on July 20 at 6 p.m.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Coastal Management (DCM) is accepting applications for FY2027 funding through the North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program. The BIG Program provides competitive grant funding to construct, renovate and maintain boating infrastructure serving transient recreational vessels 26 feet or longer.

Today, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) State Energy Office (SEO) and Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corp. (SYEMC) kicked off a $5.9 million grid modernization project. The Foothills Resiliency Project will reduce power outages, harden the system against severe weather and increase affordability, reliability, resilience and energy efficiency for rural communities in four northern North Carolina counties.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding individuals interested in leasing public coastal waters to cultivate shellfish that the 2026 Shellfish Lease & Aquaculture Program application period closes Aug. 1, 2026.

The State Water Infrastructure Authority will meet in person in Raleigh and via teleconference (Webex) on Wednesday, July 15, from 9 a.m. – 4:35 p.m. The public may listen to the meeting online or by phone.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Public Water Supply Section is accepting comments through Aug. 31 on proposed changes to state rules on oversight of facilities providing supplemental water treatment.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Coastal Management (DCM) is accepting applications for FY2027 funding through the North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program. The BIG Program provides competitive grant funding to construct, renovate and maintain boating infrastructure serving transient recreational vessels 26 feet or longer.

MOREHEAD CITY – Advisories against swimming were posted today at two sound-side sites in Carteret County, where state recreational water quality officials found bacteria levels in the water that exceed the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s recreational water quality standards.