North Carolina is announcing additional funding to support communities impacted by natural disasters. Gov. Josh Stein announced the funding earlier this month, totaling $215 million to advance critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure initiatives.
The majority of awards will directly support communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, according to state officials. These projects will target repairs for vital water systems, conduct studies of harmful chemicals and replace lead piping. The funding builds on previous rounds dedicated to repairing, rebuilding and increasing the resilience of the state’s water and wastewater systems damaged by hurricanes, totaling an $861 million investment since September 2025.
The State Water Infrastructure Authority (SWIA) allocated awards across a selection of municipalities, counties, sanitary districts and water authorities. A selection of the recipients that received the largest amounts include:
- The city of Gastonia received a combined $15 million for the Drinking Water Supply Resiliency and Long Creek Wastewater Outfall Resiliency projects.
- The town of Robbinsville will spend a total of $11.3 million to improve both the water and wastewater systems’ resiliency.
- The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority will receive $10 million to expand the water treatment plant and improve resiliency measures.
- The town of Columbus will use $10 million for the Columbus Drinking Water Helene SRF project.
- The Cliffside Sanitary District will receive a combined $9 million to advance the CSD Climate Resiliency Improvements project and CSD Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Monitoring and Removal Plans operation.
- The Lake Junaluska Assembly will invest $8.8 million to bolster wastewater and water system resiliency and redundancy.
- The Junaluska Sanitary District will allocate its $8.7 million share to improve the sewer and water systems as well as advance the JSD Post Helene Resiliency Tuscola Tank and MV Interconnect project.
- Cleveland County Water will use $8.6 million to enhance DW system resiliency.
- The city of Morganton will receive $8.1 million for its Drinking Water Resiliency Improvements project.
- The town of Boiling Springs will spend a combined $7.4 million on the Helene Sewer Extension, Sewer and Water Resiliency projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allocated federal support to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) to bolster local water systems. These projects are designed to ensure residents have access to safe, potable water even during emergencies. After four rounds of funding, the agency has finally exhausted the full award amount.
Photo by NCDOTcommunications, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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