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Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman visited the coastal town of Morehead City this week to get the lowdown on emerging issues for water quality.

Hosted by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues, the 2026 Emerging Issues Forum — Future Forward Water — was held at Carteret Community College on Wednesday.

“There was a lot of focus on water treatment and wastewater treatment plants and our infrastructure surrounding that,” Katey said.

Such industries are not much of a mystery for Katey: as part of her sustainability major at Coastal Carolina University, she landed an internship in clean water and sanitation.

“Basically, I shadowed operators at the Georgetown Water Treatment plant, studied how they tested water in the lab, how they use chemicals to treat water properly and went out in the field to pump stations and water towers to make sure chlorine levels were correct,” she said. “I also spent some time at the wastewater treatment plant, which was a bit more stinky. But it was a great overview of our water infrastructure.”

One of the emerging issues for water infrastructure is the workforce: as water operators retire, the industry is struggling to replace them with certified, younger technicians.

“It’s definitely an issue for our water treatment systems and for us, because it could create compliance issues within those systems, which could then impact our systems by not properly treating water before it’s discharged. If you don’t have enough staff that knows what’s going on, there could be more accidents that lead to sewage spills,” Katey said. “They need more people to be water operators — they’re government jobs, well-paying, great benefits and lots of room to move up with certifications. I think the goal is create strategies to connect younger people to these jobs they don’t actually know exist.”

Another issue is population growth and how to accommodate more pressure on already aging systems. North Carolina’s growth rate is the third-fastest in the nation.

“There was a lot of emphasis on creating strategies to address water infrastructure issues, especially consider the population and growth of North Carolina,” she said.

Katey said the forum was well-attended, with representatives from many water-related sectors in the room.

“Going into it, I thought it was more geared toward government people who work in the industry, but there were a lot of friendly faces, including people from other Riverkeeper organizations, and people we’ve partnered with from East Carolina University,” she said.

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A second Emerging Issues Forum was held simultaneously in Winston-Salem, this one attended by North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, who spoke about the investment his administration is making in water infrastructure and resiliency. Read about it here.