Announcing Walnut Creek Urban Waters Partnership (Raleigh, NC)

With the weather getting warmer and plants starting to bloom, it is a good time to explore our wetlands.

One of the many important community projects that the Carolina Wetlands Association is involved with is the Walnut Creek watershed in Raleigh, NC. This watershed is notorious for its flooding issues, primarily in minority communities of southeast Raleigh. To address the ongoing environmental injustices, frequent flooding and the dumping of trash, the Partners for Environmental Justice (PEJ) was formed in the mid-1990s. The PEJ was able to involve citizens in taking action to correct these issues, and one of their first tasks was cleaning the wetlands along Walnut Creek, especially around the current Walnut Creek Wetland Park. By removing trash and debris from the wetland, some reduction in flooding occurred, and citizens began to realize that wetlands could serve as a key solution to their flooding problem.

From this effort and others, the City of Raleigh commissioned the establishment of the Walnut Creek Wetland Center as a park. Since that time, the Carolina Wetlands Association has attended meetings of local and state officials as well as other nonprofits about how to deal with the flooding along Walnut Creek. About a year and a half ago, the PEJ, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Carolina Wetlands Association started working with the US Environmental Protection Agency to have Walnut Creek designated an Urban Waters Federal Partnership. There have been only 20 such waters designated so far (in 15 years of existence of the program).

I am proud to announce that the EPA approved the application and Walnut Creek is the 21st Urban Waters Federal Partnership. 

This designation will provide many benefits such as increased opportunities for funding and the hiring of a Watershed Ambassador  who will be responsible for coordinating conservation and restoration projects throughout the watershed. On April 21 and 22,  there will be a celebration of the designation of Walnut Creek watershed as an Urban Water of the US.

Friday, April 21 at 10 a.m. (Walnut Creek Wetland Center)

• A representative of the EPA will be giving a keynote address, with other top officials from the US Department of the Interior, US Forest Service, NC Forest Service;  local officials from the City Raleigh and Wake County; congressional representatives; and a local organization for engaging community youth in ecology.
• The Carolina Wetlands Association and PEJ will be giving the opening remarks about their involvement with Walnut Creek, the importance of the Urban Water designation for Walnut Creek and the surrounding communities, and what the future may look like with this designation.

Saturday, April 22 (Walnut Creek Wetland Center)

• Join us for a community celebration entitled “Our Creeks, Our Communities Festival”.
• The Carolina Wetlands Association will be staffing a table to continue communicating the importance of wetlands. If you would like to volunteer with this event, please contact Chase Bergeson.

This is truly a momentous moment for the Walnut Creek watershed and Carolina Wetlands Association is proud of the work we do with vulnerable communities to help to mitigate/reduce their flooding problems by utilizing their wetland resources.

So, take a special trip and visit the Walnut Creek Wetlands Park, the Norman and Betty Camp Education Center and the greenway through the wetlands of Walnut Creek.

Thanks for supporting this organization year-round.

Rick