Environmental Protection

Water Quality & Watershed Protection

Central Pines has a long history of helping communities manage water resources across jurisdictional lines. We convene local governments, utilities, environmental organizations and other partners around shared watersheds, helping connect water-quality goals with planning, conservation, funding and implementation.

That work includes watershed-protection initiatives, Upper Cape Fear River Basin coordination, water-quality planning grants and regional partnerships designed to protect drinking-water sources as the region grows. Learn more about these programs below.

Upper Middle Creek Watershed Action Plan

Central Pines worked with Wake County and the towns of Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and Cary to develop a watershed action plan for Upper Middle Creek. The plan identifies water-quality challenges, sources of stormwater pollution and priority actions that local partners can use to protect streams and respond to continued growth.

Explore the Upper Middle Creek Watershed Action Plan

Raleigh Watershed Protection

Central Pines helps administer Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Program with local and regional partners, supporting land preservation and restoration projects that protect drinking-water sources.

Explore Raleigh Watershed Protection

Upper Cape Fear River Basin Association

Central Pines and Piedmont Triad Regional Council jointly manage this regional partnership of local governments and industries working on water-quality monitoring, water-resource planning and improved water management across the Upper Cape Fear River Basin.

Explore Upper Cape Fear River Basin Work

Regional Water Supply & Monitoring

Good regional decisions depend on understanding what is happening in the water itself. Central Pines supports partnerships that combine long-term monitoring, shared data and coordination among communities that depend on the same rivers and reservoirs.

One of the region’s longest-running examples is the Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Program, which has collected water-quality information throughout the Upper Cape Fear River Basin since 1988 in partnership with local governments, utilities and the U.S. Geological Survey.

From 2022–2027, Phase IX expanded monitoring to include PFAS while continuing broader monitoring of rivers and reservoirs. Looking ahead, planning for Phase X is exploring additional emerging concerns, including microplastics.

Stormwater Education & Management

Stormwater pollution often begins with everyday activities on streets, yards, parking lots and other developed areas. Central Pines helps communities address that challenge together rather than recreating outreach and education jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

Since 2002, Central Pines has administered the Clean Water Education Partnership, a cooperative program that helps participating local governments protect waterways through public education and outreach. The program combines community-based education with regional media campaigns in English and Spanish.

Climate & Energy Planning

Central Pines helps local governments turn climate and energy goals into coordinated plans and projects. That work can include greenhouse-gas inventories, climate-action planning, vulnerability assessments, clean-energy initiatives and regional implementation strategies.

Current and recent work includes the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, community solar and electrification initiatives, and regional coordination intended to help communities pursue climate goals more efficiently together.

Current Climate & Energy Initiatives

Climate Pollution Reduction Grant

Central Pines is leading a regional planning process through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program. The work brings communities together to identify strategies for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and climate pollution across the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan areas.

Electrify the Triangle

Electrify the Triangle helps residents navigate home energy improvements by connecting them with participating contractors, available incentives and guidance for making homes more efficient, comfortable and affordable.

Triangle Sustainability Partnership

Local governments work together through the Triangle Sustainability Partnership on regional clean-energy campaigns and shared initiatives. Its Solarize the Triangle campaigns used group purchasing and coordinated outreach to expand access to residential solar.

Environmental Resilience & Restoration

Environmental resilience means understanding where communities and natural systems are vulnerable, then planning investments that reduce risk and strengthen their ability to adapt.

Central Pines supports regional and local resilience planning, conservation and restoration initiatives that connect environmental conditions with community priorities. Current work includes a Nature Conservancy Resilience and Restoration Project, while earlier regional efforts assessed shared vulnerabilities to extreme weather, heat, drought and changing demands on natural resources.

Central Pines supported the process through forecasting, modeling, performance analysis, project coordination and regional facilitation.

Environmental Technical Assistance & Funding

Not every community has dedicated staff for water resources, climate planning or environmental project development. Central Pines can provide additional technical capacity while helping local governments connect their needs with regional partners, funding programs and regulatory requirements.

Support can include project development, planning and facilitation, environmental data and research, grant coordination, water-quality planning and assistance connecting communities with state, federal and nonprofit partners.

How We Help