SOUTHEASTERN NC — Burgaw, Ocean Isle Beach, and Surf City are among 20 communities that will receive grant funds from the DEQ, as part of the final phase of a program designed to improve their resilience to coastal hazards.
On July 25, the DEQ’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) announced grants for 19 counties and municipalities, including towns in Pender and Brunswick counties, through the N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program.
Burgaw will receive $55,000 for rain garden installations and accompanying educational demonstrations. Ocean Isle Beach will receive $170,000 for a living shoreline feasibility study and demonstration project, and Surf City will receive $331,535 for a roadside infiltration resilience project.
The Resilient Coastal Communities Program aims to help overcome barriers in coastal resilience and adaptation planning. It supports proactive and equitable approaches to coastal resilience planning and project implementation, by providing funding from the state legislature and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Other projects the program has funded include constructing living shorelines to minimize erosion along public coastlines, revising development regulations to incorporate resilience strategies, and creating comprehensive stormwater management plans that involve detailed drainage studies.
The program is divided into four phases: community engagement and risk assessments; planning, project selection, and prioritization; engineering and design; and, finally, implementation.
“Funding the valuable resilience work of these communities allows them move their projects from concept to completion, building a stronger future by protecting residents and the coastal economy”, said NCDEQ Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser.
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