North Carolina State University at Raleigh wins $800,000 EPA grant to study water quality

North Carolina State University at Raleigh recently won a $800,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the value of high water quality in Southeast watersheds impacted by increasing development.
 
Through this funding, the EPA and North Carolina State University will help communities better understand how the costs of actions that protect waterways benefit them, showing the economic value of water quality. Specifically, the institution will be studying wadeable streams in areas with growing urban development.
 
The funding for North Carolina State University is part of a total of $4.8 million in funding awarded to six universities throughout the country to study the relationship between water quality and monetary value. The studies will also examine how measures to promote water quality relate to monetary value in terms of services available in watersheds with high quality.
 
“Clean water is a cornerstone of a healthy community. Many communities face challenging decisions about investing in the protection of water resources,” EPA Science Advisor Thomas Burke, who is also the deputy assistant administrator of the EPA Office of Research and Development, said. “These grants will help measure the costs and benefits of improving water quality, an important step toward protecting the environment and human health.”