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A Division of Water Resources public hearing tonight (Thursday, June 26) seeks input on a rule that will erase protections for many North Carolina wetlands.

The hearing stems from the North Carolina Farm Act of 2023, which aligned North Carolina’s wetland protections with those on the federal level. Since, the Environmental Management Commission advanced the proposed rule and the Office of State Budget and Management approved it late last year.

Then, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper attempted to use his veto power to block the Farm Act, but a supermajority in both houses of the legislature overrode his veto. Now, many believe an that estimation of 2.5 million acres of North Carolina’s wetlands losing protections is a conservative one.

“In the short term, this means that these unprotected wetlands can now be ditched, drained, developed and polluted without regulation. In the longer-term, this means that North Carolina’s communities can expect more flooding and more polluted waterways in the years to come,” said Sound Rivers Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop.

When it comes to providing flood protection and clean water for communities, even the smallest wetlands are critically important. Wetlands soak up rainwater, recharging groundwater supplies and preventing heavy runoff from overwhelming our surface water and downstream communities. Wetlands also clean our water resources by filtering out sediments and other pollutants before they travel to our rivers and drinking water supplies.

The state of North Carolina’s own environmental agencies recognize the incredible value of wetlands in our state’s flood-prevention strategy. While the state of North Carolina invests hundreds of millions of dollars in flood prevention and resilience — including on projects dedicated to wetland protection — the legislature’s rollback of millions of acres of wetland protections undercuts these valuable flood prevention efforts.

“The removal of critical protections for our wetlands undermines the promise of the Clean Water Act. It’s a move that benefits the interests of big builders and developers at the expense of our waterways and downstream communities,” Samantha said. “Now it is critical that communities across North Carolina speak out and tell our legislature not to leave the Capitol until they ensure protections for our state’s wetlands — our best natural tool for flood resilience.”

Want to learn more about why wetlands are so important? Listen to the Sound Rivers podcast “What About Wetlands?” here!

The public hearing will be held in person from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, in the ground floor hearing room of the Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.

To attend virtually, log in via WebEx using Meeting No. 2425 792 4510, password: NCDEQ; or by phone at 415-655-0003 and access code 2425 792 4510.

Register to comment online by noon on June 26. Register onsite starts at 5:30 p.m. Anyone may comment, but speakers may be limited to three minutes.

Written comments may also be submitted by June 30. Email comments to: Sue.Homewood@deq.nc.gov using the subject line: “Wetland Definition Amendment.”