WHAT WE DO

Citizen Education projects are funded by membership dues & contributions. The goal of these projects is to build citizen support for better local, state and/or federal protection of the Rocky River ecosystem. Of special importance are governmental efforts to improve:

• water quality monitoring,
• protection of eight state designated Natural Heritage Areas and three Nationally Significant Aquatic Habitats,
• land use ordinances including stream buffers and sedimentation controls, and
• enforcement of the Clean Water Act and the Rare and Endangered Species Act.

Administrative & Political Lobbying efforts focus on land use management activities of local governments as well as water quality management programs of the North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources. Both types of lobbying efforts seek to encourage more effective land and water management programs throughout the Rocky River basin. Of special importance is:

• the issuance of better NPDES discharge permits in the Rocky River watershed by the N.C. Division of Water Quality,
• designation of the river as "nutrient sensitive" by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission,
• more effective local sedimentation control and stream buffer ordinances and better enforcement of the same,
• improved releases of water from impoundments on the Rocky River, and
• more adequate funding of conservation easement and land acquisition programs.

Electoral Politics is limited to encouraging members to vote for local and state candidates who support the goals of the Friends of the Rocky River.