News

Sound Rivers Program Director Clay Barber visited the site of his latest project this week: restoring an existing wetland at Wayne Community College.

“This is an existing wetland that is very out of maintenance, that we are taking back to the original design. N.C. State University did the original project, but over the years, the wetland has fallen on some hard times,” Clay said.

The wetland, located on a conservation easement on the Goldsboro campus, has filled with sediment, becoming shallow and muddy, and wetland plants have been taken over by other vegetation that doesn’t help the work of a wetland

“There’s a lot of trees and woody vegetation, which is a ‘no-no’ for wetlands,” Clay said.

Sound Rivers is partnering with the college and Backwater Environmental to de-water the pond, remove the accumulated sediment and non-useful vegetation, then replant with 900 native wetland plants. The wetland drains from campus via Stoney Creek, which is a tributary of the Neuse River.

Worked begins on Monday; funding is provided by an Environmental Enhancement Grant administered by the North Carolina Department of Justice.