Chapter 6 Conservation Goals and Priorities
The NCDWR’s planning group is responsible for producing an integrated basin-wide water quality and water quantity plan, which is a nonregulatory, basin- and watershed-based approach to identifying, quantifying, restoring, and protecting North Carolina’s water resources. Basin-wide water resource plans are available for each of the 17 major river basins (https://www.eenorthcarolina.org/resources/river-basin-map-and-gis-resources) and are proposed to be presented in a dynamic online format. Implementation of the plan protection and restoration recommendations requires the coordinated efforts of many agencies, local governments, and stakeholder groups in the state. These cooperative efforts help achieve the goals of basin-wide planning, which are to: • Identify and quantify the state’s water resources. • Evaluate the current, near-term (20 years into the future) and long-term (50 years into the future) basin-wide water use needs. • Identify sites where ecological integrity for planning purposes may not be met. • Identify water quality problems and restore full use to impaired waters. • Identify and protect high value resource waters. • Protect unimpaired waters while allowing for reasonable economic growth. The NCDWR is also responsible for monitoring aquatic toxicology through support of the USEPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program; evaluating water quality of streams and rivers using the fish and benthic macroinvertebrate communities as a measure of environmental condition to assign bioclassifications to surface waters; and collecting and analyzing biological, chemical, and physical data from a variety of surface waters using a statewide network of sampling sites. 6.5.3.6 Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs The Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs was established in 1993 to balance NCDEQ’s regulatory functions with a commitment to environmental literacy and environmental education outreach. The mission of the Office of Environmental Education is to encourage, support, and promote environmental education programs, facilities, and resources in North Carolina for the purpose of improving the public’s environmental literacy and stewardship of natural resources through planning, policy development, community involvement, innovative partnerships, and collaboration. The office serves as the clearinghouse for all the environmental education resources in the state and manages a nationally recognized professional development program that certifies educators in environmental education. The NC Environmental Educator Certification Program provides enrollees with outdoor teaching skills, science and nature content knowledge, and environmental education methods.
Since 2005, the Office of Environmental Education has been a key partner in a 10-state consortium that has developed an interactive, web-based database that allows us to share
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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