Black Mountain, North Carolina, awarded funding to help with stormwater management

The town of Black Mountain, North Carolina, has been awarded funding by the Buncombe County commissioners to help with stormwater management in the area.

The funds come from the County’s Clean Water Fund, which was established to encourage local governments and nonprofits to help improve water quality in the county.

Jennifer Harrison, director of agriculture and land resources presented the county commissioners with three projects that applied for the $100,000 of available funding.

Black Mountain requested $100,000, Riverlink requested $50,000 and Asheville Greenworks requested $35,000 to fund projects in each of the three towns.

The Energy and Environmental Stewardship subcommittee recommended commissioners fund the Black Mountain project with $75,000 and the Riverlink project with $25,000. Commissioners unanimously passed the recommendation with no discussion.

The Black Mountain funds will go toward a project to convey stormwater onto the town-owned Black Mountain golf course, according to a news article.

The project will allow stormwater to soak into the ground and be filtered before it enters the Swannanoa River.

The river is currently listed as impaired because stormwater runs off impervious surfaces that are common in urbanized areas into the river without first being filtered.

The town will work with an engineer to modify the design of the original plans to fit the new budget of $75,000. The designs have not been developed yet.