restoration; or when another 400 partici- 

 pants crowd a piedmont conference to learn 

 about riparian buffers. 



It's even better news when practices 

 become policy in regions where rapid growth 

 is stressing natural resources. Recently the 

 piedmont town of Cary adopted a 100-foot 

 riparian buffer rule to protect environmen- 

 tally sensitive streams and lakes that drain 

 into both the Cape Fear and Neuse river 

 basins. The state's 50- foot stream buffer 

 rule, expected to be approved in November, 

 applies only to towns in the Neuse basin. 



Riparian buffers include the land along 

 creeks, rivers and lakes, Doll explains. 

 They play a key role in stabilizing the 

 stream banks and filtering sediments, 

 nutrients pathogens and other pollutants 

 from runoff. Stream buffers can be havens 

 for wildlife or provide attractive recre- 

 ational or educational space for communities. 



Promoting Remedies 



Bill Hunt, a member of the N.C. 

 Cooperative Extension Neuse Education 

 Team, is a recognized leader in promoting 

 storm water management methods. Growth 

 in North Carolina brings prosperity — 

 along with paved surfaces and rooftops that 

 replace naturally permeable soils. Pollutants 

 carried by runoff include sediments from 

 construction sites; oil, antifreeze and brake 

 dust from parking lots and roads; and fertilizer 

 and pesticides from lawns and gardens. 



Hunt says homeowners can reduce the 

 amount of pollutants entering waterways 

 — from limiting fertilizer and pesticide 

 applications to maintaining septic systems. 

 Some of the large-scale pollution mitiga- 

 tion practices for developers to consider 

 include constructed wetlands, sand filters, 

 and bioretention areas or rain gardens: 



• Constructed wetlands are shallow 

 ponds with vegetation that remove 

 pollutants through settling, and contain 

 microbes that convert nitrate to harmless 

 nitrogen gas. 



• Sand filters treat runoff from 

 impervious areas such as parking lots. This 

 two-chambered system first slows the 

 velocity of incoming water and then filters 



Continued 



SeenD.Ttflor 



TOP: Barbara Doll, Sea Grant water quality specialist, meets with David Pulley, 

 Pine Valley Golf Course superintendent, to discuss one aspect of the ongoing stream 

 repair project in Wilmington. The stream drains into the Hewletts Creek watershed. 

 BOTTOM: Urban stream restoration is a critical part of improving coastal water 

 quality. Rocky Branch on the NC State University campus drains to the Neuse 

 River Basin. 



COASTWATCH 19 



