Cumberland County asks state legislators for $50 million regional water push, backing for Grays Creek and Rhodes Pond

Cumberland County leaders on a March meeting with the North Carolina legislative delegation prioritized a regional water and sewer approach and asked for state help securing funding and regulatory support.

Chair Sharon opened the session by describing a new district model that groups municipalities and unincorporated areas to build shared water and sewer capacity. The county is requesting $50,000,000 to begin a regional buildout, plus $5,000,000 for Grays Creek Phase 3 engineering and funding to study a Cape Fear River intake. Sharon said the regional approach allows the county to pursue diverse funding streams, including USDA and federal opportunities, and highlighted partnerships with PWC, Harnett Water and Dunn.

Senator McGinnis and several delegation members said they support the county’s push, and they signaled willingness to advocate with the Environmental Management Commission and DEQ on permitting questions. County staff asked the delegation to press for an extension on existing grant dollars tied to the Rhodes/Rose Pond project and to help ensure funds already allocated are not returned to Raleigh because awards were not encumbered.

Delegation members and commissioners raised technical questions about sequencing and prioritization. Representative Colby asked whether the county would prioritize investments in higher tax-base areas to accelerate revenue recovery; the county replied the district model targets “low-hanging fruit” like Godwin alongside broader capacity-building across the county. Delegation members also asked about interim options such as deep wells and annexation hookups; county staff said PWC is a partner and the district model maximizes flexibility to bring water from multiple sources.

Chair Sharon cautioned that large transfers of water out of the Cape Fear Basin are politically and environmentally sensitive. The meeting included a united delegation response opposing an inter-basin transfer request that would move more than 6.1 million gallons per day, and county leaders asked delegates to counsel DEQ/EMC members accordingly.

The county said it will follow up with more detailed preliminary engineering scopes for the $5 million requests and intends to bring legislators tours and additional briefings as the short session approaches.

The meeting closed with the delegation agreeing to continue advocacy on grants and permitting issues and a pledge from county staff to provide the delegation with engineering scope documents and grant encumbrance updates.