Upper Neuse River Basin Association: About UNRBA

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.

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:

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.

The following table shows the member governments, the estimated number of households in their watershed, total area with their watershed, and proportion of average daily use from Upper Neuse River water supply reservoirs:

Jurisdiction	Total 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 County	130,898	(26.5%)	16,820	(21.6%)	N/A
Franklin County	5,327	(1.1%)	460	(0.6%)	N/A
Granville County	84,726	(17.2%)	3,475	(4.5%)	N/A
Orange County	125,559	(25.4%)	10,330	(13.3%)	N/A
Person County	83,089	(16.8%)	3,120	(4.0%)	N/A
Wake County	64,088	(13.0%)	8,620	(11.1%)	N/A
Creedmoor	1,358	(0.3%)	370	(0.5%)	0.41%
Durham	24,913	(5.0%)	30,620	(39.3%)	40.11%
Hillsborough	2,482	(0.5%)	2,000	(2.6%)	2.40%
Raleigh	559	(0.1%)	1,170	(1.5%)	53.86%
Roxboro	504	(0.1%)	200	(0.3%)	N/A
Stem	506	(0.1%)	65	(0.1%)	N/A
Wake Forest	343	(0.1%)	150	(0.2%)	N/A
Butner	4,384	(0.9%)	510	(0.7%)	N/A
South Granville Water and Sewer Authority	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.22%
County Soil and Water Conservation Districts	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
TOTAL			79,910	(100%)	100%

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 Members	Director	Alternate Director
Town of Butner	Thomas Marrow	(vacant)
City of Creedmoor	Tim Karan	Bob Schaumleffel
City of Durham	William Bell	Cora Cole-McFadden
Durham County	Becky Heron, Chair	Ellen Reckhow
Franklin County	Lyn Buffaloe	Pat Young
Granville County	Ronald R. Alligood	(vacant)
Town of Hillsborough	Tom Stevens	Margaret Hauth
Orange County	Barry Jacobs	Tom Altieri
Person County	Jimmy Clayton	Steve Carpenter
City of Raleigh	Nancy McFarlane	Dale Crisp
Town of Stem	Jack Day	Ellen Wilkins
Wake County	Kenn Gardner	(vacant)
Town of Wake Forest	Margaret Stinnett	Scott Miles
South Granville Water and Sewer Authority	Lindsay Mize	Fred Dancy
Soil and Water Conservation Districts	Robert Rosenthal (Durham County)	Donnie Woodlief (Wake County)

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	Joe Albiston	Jane Korest	Joe Pearce
Franklin County	Max Rogers
Granville County	Barry Baker
Orange County	Tom Altieri	Wesley Poole	Tom Konsler	Terry Hackett
Person County	Steve Carpenter	Paula Murphy	Mitch Pergerson
Wake County	Mark Bailey	Tom Hill	Mike Jennings	Melinda Clark
Town of Butner	Tom McGee
City of Creedmoor	Dave Roesler
City of Durham	Nancy Newell	Kathleen Snyder	Cherri Smith	John Cox
Town of Hillsborough	Margaret Hauth	Kenny Keel
City of Raleigh	Mark Senior	Amy Hathaway	George Rogers
Town of Stem	Jack Day
Town of Wake Forest	Scott Miles	Holly Spring

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

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

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 watershed planning projects. A major focus of Sarah's work for the UNRBA is implementation of the Upper Neuse Watershed Management Plan.

Sarah has lived in Chapel Hill 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. 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. She received her graduate degree in City & Regional Planning from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2004. Sarah is also a Certified Floodplain Manager.

Shelby Powell joined the Kerr-Tar Council of Governments staff in March 2004. She works on a contract basis with the Upper Neuse River Basin Association and works with local governments in the Franklin, Granville, and Person County areas of the basin. Her current work with the UNRBA includes assisting with implementation planning and identifying gaps between the Upper Neuse Watershed Management Plan recommendations and local ordinances and policies.

Shelby has a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a Concentration in Environmental Planning from East Carolina University, and a Masters in Business Administration from the same institution. In addition to her current work with the UNRBA, Shelby has performed TMDL implementation planning activities and environmental protection ordinance preparation for various local governments in the Augusta, Georgia region.

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.