Albemarle-Pamlico Watershed Awarded $27.25 Million Grant

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Don Davis (NC-01) announces that as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to implement recovery actions for four groups of endangered species, several counties in North Carolina’s First Congressional District have been awarded $27.25 million for restoration in the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed.

“We must protect our environment to ensure eastern North Carolina’s natural beauty can be enjoyed for generations to come,” said Congressman Don Davis. “These federal funds will help protect our waterways and restore ecosystems affected by extreme weather events.”

Program funding is part of the $62.5 million in Inflation Reduction Act dedicated to recovery implementation, and supports four focal species groups: Hawaiian and Pacific Island plants, butterflies, and moths; freshwater mussels; and southwest desert fish.

“These projects allow for significant progress towards restoring rivers, coasts and wetlands, and improving ecosystems that have been subjected to flooding and other extreme weather events,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams. “With increasing shoreline erosion, saltwater intrusion and loss of habitable environments, the Inflation Reduction Act gives us the resources needed to implement nature-based solutions which will have lasting benefits to nature and communities for generations to come.”

The federal investment will fund nature-based solutions, which are sustainable practices that use natural features or processes to reduce carbon emissions and improve climate adaptation and resilience on nine units of the National Wildlife Refuge System and on state-owned game lands. These restored public lands will be able to better adapt to rising seas, floods, droughts, and wildfires by focusing on peatland restoration, shoreline protection, improvements to water quality, upgrades to wetland impoundment infrastructure and reconnecting floodplains. The projects will also benefit communities and private landowners whose lands are impacted by severe weather and improve living conditions for threatened and endangered wildlife. 

“The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System is home to some of the most climate vulnerable counties in the nation and is particularly susceptible to sea level rise and changes in storm intensity and frequency,” saidRegional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Mike Oetker. “We will continue working with partners to ensure we are good stewards of this significant investment, using nature-based solutions to increase resiliency in our communities and water-management infrastructure, as well as provide clean air and water for the community and local wildlife.”

Projects identified include:

• Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (Tyrrell and Dare counties): The project will focus on upgrading water-management infrastructure to reduce the impacts of saltwater intrusion.
• Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (Hyde, Washington, and Tyrrell counties): The project will focus on restoring peatlands. Healthy forested peatlands offer some of nature’s best carbon storage while protecting local communities from flooding, saltwater intrusion, and wildfires.
• Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (Bertie County): The project will remove barriers that isolate the Roanoke River from its floodplain. Reconnected floodplains provide more capacity for flood flows, which can reduce the severity of flooding in neighboring communities. Connected floodplains are also expected to provide new recreational opportunities, improve aesthetic values of the landscape, and increase available homes and food sources for fish and other aquatic species.  

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