About the Upper Neuse River Basin Association

The Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA) was formed in 1996 to provide an ongoing forum for cooperation on water quality protection and water resource planning and management within the 770-square-mile watershed. The 8 municipalities, 6 counties, and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the watershed voluntarily formed the Association.

Mission
Local Governments in the Watershed
Board of Directors
Technical Advisory Committee
Implementation Steering Committee
Bylaws
Staff
Major Issues
Contact Information
Map to Our Location at Triangle J COG



MISSION

The Mission of the UNRBA is to preserve the water quality of the Upper Neuse River Basin through innovative and cost-effective pollution reduction strategies, and to constitute a forum to cooperate on water supply issues within the Upper Neuse River Basin by:

  1. Forming a coalition of units of local government, public and private agencies, and other interested and affected communities, organizations, businesses and individuals to secure and pool financial resources and expertise;
  2. Collecting and analyzing information and data and developing, evaluating and implementing strategies to reduce, control and manage pollutant discharge; and
  3. Providing accurate technical, management, regulatory and legal recommendations regarding the implementation of strategies and appropriate effluent limitations on discharges into the Upper Neuse River Basin.

The 1998 Executive Summary provides information on the UNRBA's goals and objectives, accomplishments to date, and examples of expected benefits to the association's members.




LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE WATERSHED

The following table shows the jurisdictions in the watershed, the estimated number of households in the Upper Neuse Basin, total area in the Upper Neuse Basin, and proportion of the water supply system's average daily raw water demand from Upper Neuse River water supply reservoirs as of January 2004:

JurisdictionTotal Area (acres) within Upper Neuse River Watershed (percentage of watershed area)Year 2000 Number of Households (and percentage of watershed total)Proportion of Total Public Water Supply Use (in Million Gallons per Day)
Durham County130,898(26.5%)16,820 (21.6%)N/A
Franklin County5,327(1.1%)460 (0.6%)N/A
Granville County84,726(17.2%)3,475 (4.5%)N/A
Orange County125,559(25.4%)10,330 (13.3%)N/A
Person County83,089(16.8%)3,120 (4.0%)N/A
Wake County64,088(13.0%)8,620 (11.1%)N/A
Creedmoor1,358(0.3%)370 (0.5%)0.41%
Durham24,913(5.0%)30,620 (39.3%)40.11%
Hillsborough2,482(0.5%)2,000 (2.6%)2.40%
Raleigh559(0.1%)1,170 (1.5%)53.86%
Roxboro*504(0.1%)200 (0.3%)N/A
Stem506(0.1%)65 (0.1%)N/A
Wake Forest343(0.1%)150 (0.2%)N/A
Butner4,384(0.9%)510(0.7%)N/A
South Granville Water and Sewer AuthorityN/AN/AN/AN/A3.22%
TOTAL  79,910(100%)100%

* Roxboro is not a member of the UNRBA




BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The UNRBA Board of Directors is comprised of one Director and one Alternate Director from each of the thirteen jurisdictions in the watershed. Additionally, the County Soil and Water Conservation Districts elect one Director and Alternate Director to the UNRBA Board. The Directors and Alternates are listed below:

Corporate MembersDirectorAlternate Director
Town of Butner Thomas Marrow (vacant)
City of Creedmoor Tim Karan Tom Mercer
City of Durham William Bell Cora Cole-McFadden
Durham County Becky Heron Ellen Reckhow
Franklin County Harry Foy Scott Hammerbacher
Granville County Ronald R. Alligood Barry Baker
Town of Hillsborough Mike Gering Margaret Hauth
Orange County Pam Hemminger, Chair Tom Davis
Person County Jimmy Clayton Heidi York
City of Raleigh Nancy McFarlane Kenny Waldroup
Town of Stem Ellen Wilkins (vacant)
Wake County Stan Norwalk Bettie Lou Ward
Town of Wake Forest Margaret Stinnett Scott Miles
South Granville Water and Sewer Authority Lindsay Mize Fred Dancy
Soil and Water Conservation Districts Danielle Adams
(Durham County)
Donnie Woodlief
(Wake County)

Schedule of 2010 and 2011 UNRBA Board Meetings

CLICK HERE FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING MINUTES.




TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The TAC is composed of member government staff and elected officials with expertise in watershed management, stormwater management, land/agricultural conservation programs, planning, water treatment and wastewater treatment.

Jurisdiction Members
Durham County Chris Roberts Jane Korest
Franklin County Scott Hammerbacher
Granville County Barry Baker
Orange County Tom Davis Tom Konsler Terry Hackett
Person County Paula Murphy Mitch Pergerson
Wake County Tom Hill Melinda Clark Britt Stoddard
Town of Butner Thomas Marrow Melissa Hodges
City of Creedmoor Dave Roesler
City of Durham Kathleen Snyder John Cox Reggie Hicks Helen Youngblood
Town of Hillsborough Margaret Hauth Kenny Keel
City of Raleigh Mark Senior Amy Hathaway Ed Buchan
Town of Stem Jack Day
Town of Wake Forest Scott Miles Holly Spring

CLICK HERE FOR TAC MEETING MINUTES.




IMPLEMENTATION STEERING COMMITTEE

The ISC is composed of members of the Board of Directors and the Technical Advisory Committee. The ISC advises the UNRBA on implementation planning and issues.

Name Local Affiliation UNRBA Affiliation
Kent Ray City of Creedmoor Board of Directors
Tommy Craven City of Raleigh Board of Directors
George Rogers City of Raleigh, Public Utilities Technical Advisory Committee (Chair)
Nancy Newell City of Durham, Water Management Technical Advisory Committee
Patrick Young Franklin County, Planning Board of Directors
Barry Baker Granville County, Planning Technical Advisory Committee
Melinda Clark Wake County, Environmental Services Technical Advisory Committee

CLICK HERE FOR ISC MEETING MINUTES.




BYLAWS

The UNRBA has adopted formal bylaws to guide the organization. Click here to download a copy (requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader).




STAFF

Sarah Bruce - Executive Director

Sarah Bruce has worked for UNRBA in various capacities since 2004 and was appointed UNRBA Executive Director in October 2007. Sarah supports the UNRBA's Board of Directors, Technical Advisory Committee, and various planning and management activities in the Falls Lake watershed. Major focuses of Sarah's work include implementation of the Upper Neuse Watershed Management Plan and the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy.

Sarah has lived in the Triangle since she moved from Sedona, Arizona to attend UNC-Chapel Hill as an undergraduate. In 1998, she received her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, a self-developed curriculum on the interrelationship of culture and ecology. She received her graduate degree in City & Regional Planning from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2004. Before she joined the UNRBA and TJCOG, she worked for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and for the NC Division of Emergency Management doing hazard mitigation planning. Sarah is also a Certified Floodplain Manager.

Heather Saunders - Water Resources Planner

Heather Saunders joined the UNBRA in December of 2007 in order to work on watershed and restoration planning and assist the UNRBA Technical Advisory Committee in addressing implementation and planning strategies.

Heather has been a Raleigh resident since 1994, when she moved here from Northern Virginia to pursue her undergraduate degree in Natural Resources from NC State. After completing her BS, she worked for a private environmental consulting firm in Raleigh focusing on stream and wetland delineations, restoration, monitoring, and Section 401/404 permitting. After working as an environmental consultant for almost four years, Heather left her position to travel abroad and pursue an MSc in Aquatic Resource Management at Kings College in London. Her year abroad allowed her to focus on the management of freshwater, estuarine, and marine systems and increased her capacity for understanding the challenge of sustainably managing water resources. Heather obtained her MSc in September 2007.

Mike Ciriello - Kerr-Tar Region Coordinator

Mike Ciriello joined the Kerr-Tar Council of Governments staff in August 2009. Mike works on a contract basis with the UNRBA with local governments in the Franklin, Granville, and Person County areas of the basin.

Mike has Bachelor's degrees in International Relations and Public Affairs from George Washington University and a Master's in Landscape Architecture with concentrations in Environmental and Regional Planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from North Carolina State University. Mike's environment and urban design research has taken him to Alaska, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Italy, Russia, and the Turks and Caicos. His work has included the study of regional environments, historic human settlements, and comparative studies on impact of and potential for US development. Mike is a member of the International Studies and Landscape Architecture Honor Societies.




CONTACT INFORMATION

Sarah Bruce, Executive Director

Mailing Address:

P O Box 12276
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919)558-9343    Fax: (919)549-9390    Email: sbruce@tjcog.org

Map to our Office Location at Triangle J Council of Governments