N.C. County Looks to Protect Basin Water

Brunswick County, N.C., commissioners appointed seven people recently to look at how to accommodate development while protecting water quality in the 250 square miles of the Lockwood Folly basin.

Their objective will be to figure out how to deal with growth so population growth doesn't hurt the river.

"The sooner you take this on, the more options are available to you," said Todd Miller, executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation.

The group will try to develop a set of "best management practices" that will prescribe what various types of development should do to stop stormwater runoff from overwhelming the river.

Miller hopes things developed in the Lockwood Folly plan can be modeled by other governments that want to protect their water quality.

The round table includes people with a variety of backgrounds and interests in what happens along the river. That means environmentalists and developers will be deciding together how each of their goals can be met.

Source: NCCF