The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) awarded seven grants totaling $188,430 to environmental groups working to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitats, expand public use and access to waterways, and increase water quality awareness in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties. 

The new Bryson City wastewater treatment plant broke ground on May 19 in a public ceremony, but town Director of Engineering and Public Works Nate Bowe anticipates far less recognition during the next phase of the project.  

“In the utility world, there’s not a lot that’s typically visible, except during construction, when we’re in everybody’s way, and we’re making a mess,” he said, adding that “public feedback is not usually positive.” 

A nagging albeit minor plumbing issue on our 46-year-old Canadian-made sailboat, Tranquilo, sent me to Mitchell’s Hardware in downtown New Bern. It’s one of those throwback hardware stores, brass doorknobs, endless bins of screws and washers and plumbing fittings, creaky hardwood floors and friendly employees to help you locate what you need. The woman who rang me up told me to have a good day and then asked where I was from. 

Construction has begun on the long-planned renovations to the Bobby N. Setzer Hatchery near Brevard, and contractors are saying the project is on schedule for a full-reopening early next year. 

During a tour for local media last week, contractors and state officials provided an inside look at the construction. Stacks of piping, totaling about 2.5 miles line the site of future trout raceways, heavy equipment moves rock and laborers dig and survey.

Recent rainfall was not enough to offer relief from worsening drought conditions. According to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, extreme drought conditions have expanded across most of the Piedmont and in Western North Carolina, and one county is now considered to be in exceptional drought. 

According to the DMAC’s classification’s issued Thursday, Union County is in an exceptional drought, 61 counties are in extreme drought and most of the rest of the state is in severe drought. 

The National Park Service urge visitors to plan ahead, prepare for changing conditions and know their personal limits while recreating in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Park rangers have been responding to an increased number of emergencies and are reminding visitors that rescue is not a certainty.  

A March 31 Swain County public hearing for a data center moratorium drew a crowd of around 140 people, a turnout proportionate to 12,900 residents in Wake County, confronting commissioners to plead their case. 

Attendees filled the six rows facing commissioners, leaving a couple dozen straining to watch the event behind the open double-doors. All had shown up to be part of the conversation about hyper-scale data centers and out of concern for about how these facilities could impact every aspect of their livelihoods. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources is now accepting proposals statewide for projects that address stream restoration, water-based restoration and water management until June 30.

DWR is seeking proposals for projects through the current spring 2026 application cycle of the Water Resources Development Grant Program.  

A looming deadline on a critical wastewater agreement has exposed a growing divide between Canton officials and their private partner, with negotiations stalled over cost, oversight and the data needed to shape the town’s long-term infrastructure plans. 

Town leaders confirmed they do not yet have an extension in place for wastewater treatment services as the current agreement with mill site owner Eric Spirtas was set to expire at 5 p.m. March 31 — when The Smoky Mountain News went to print — leaving only days to resolve a dispute that has been building over months. 

In 1996, the Volunteer Water Information Network (VWIN) program was established as a water quality monitoring program for many Western North Carolina counties. In Haywood County, Haywood Waterways Association manages 25 sites on 19 streams. The program’s purpose is to provide long term water quality monitoring information to help leverage grant funding for water quality improvement projects.