The funding will be used for a variety of projects designed to improve water quality in priority watersheds across the state.
This runoff picks up natural and man-made pollutants as it flows, eventually depositing the material into lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Controlling nonpoint source pollution is especially important since one in three Americans get their drinking water from public systems that rely on seasonal and rain-dependent streams.
North Carolina has identified more than 40 watersheds across the state as priorities for restoration using 319 grant funds.
It can contribute to problems like harmful algal blooms, erosion, and bacteria contamination of surface and groundwater.
Nonpoint sources of pollution include agricultural runoff, urban runoff, abandoned mine drainage, failing on-site disposal systems, and pollution caused by changes to natural stream channels. Through Section 319, EPA provides states with grant funding to implement their nonpoint source programs and to support local watershed projects to improve water quality.