Contact: Ernie Seneca, 919/733-7015, ext. 208
Date: March 8. 2000
First Wetlands Restoration Project Unveiled Thursday In Carteret
MEDIA ADVISORY
(Editor's Note: Media are invited to attend the unveiling ceremony for the Jumping Run Creek wetland restoration project at 11 a.m., Thursday, March 9. Invitations have been sent to various members of the public, program participants and dignitaries.)
MOREHEAD CITY - A ceremony to unveil the Division of Water Quality's first wetlands restoration project is scheduled here Thursday, March 9.
The Jumping Run Creek project is a cooperative effort of DWQ's North Carolina Wetlands Restoration Program, other state and federal agencies, and private industry. The expected completion date for the 4.4-acre restoration site is the end of the year, with project costs estimated at $100,000.
"This agreement will ensure that the wetlands restored will remain intact and continue to reduce the impacts of future development within the watershed," said Ron Ferrell, program manager of the Wetlands Restoration Program. "We hope that this will set a tone for future projects, bringing state, community, educational and business organizations together to help restore and protect critical water resources."
The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the restoration site, which is off Highway 24 south of Morehead City at the Carteret-Craven Electric Co-operative. The Co-operative donated a permanent conservation easement for the site last July.
Established by the General Assembly, the Wetlands Restoration Program is a non-regulatory program that promotes restoration, enhancement, creation and preservation of wetlands and riparian (streamside) areas throughout North Carolina. Twenty other projects are currently under way involving 34 acres and 46,900 linear feet of streams and buffers.
Jumping Run drains into a major shellfish area within Bogue Sound. Portions of the area have often been closed to shellfishing in recent years because of an influx of freshwater with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Project goals are to offset freshwater influxes through innovative stormwater measures and restore the headwater wetlands to enhance water quality. Restoring the wetland will help filter and recycle excess nutrients from more than one third of the watershed.
Other participants in the restoration effort include: the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Duke Marine Lab, N.C. State University's Cooperative Extension Service, School of Design, and Biological and Agricultural Engineering; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Section 319 Program, N.C. Sea Grant, and the Shellfish Sanitation Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
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