Dr. Charles Humphrey and his team recently completed their project titled, “Reducing Non-Point Sources of Pollution and Improving Water Quality in the Lick Creek Watershed”, which was funded by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) for $143,050 from 2018 to 2021. Dr. Humphrey’s team was comprised of Dr. Guy Iverson (Environmental Health faculty), Jarrod Underwood (MS Environmental Health alum) and Dr. Mike O’Driscoll (Department of Coastal Studies faculty). The goal of the project was to improve water quality in the Lick Creek watershed (Durham County) by reducing the transport of nutrients, bacteria, and sediment to the creek. Lick Creek is a tributary of Falls Lake, which is the main water supply for the City of Raleigh and is also used for water-based recreation.

Some of the accomplishments of the Lick Creek Project include the following:

• 545 feet of stream/ drainageway were stabilized and 72 tons of loose sediment were removed.
• 4 malfunctioning septic systems were repaired, reducing annual transport of nitrogen (39 pounds) and phosphorus (6.5 pounds).
• 15 septic tanks were pumped, removing 65 pounds of nitrogen and 6.5 pounds of phosphorus.
• A flashboard was installed to help control drainage downstream from a bioreactor, reducing annual transport of nitrogen by 5 pounds, phosphorus by 1.5 pounds, and E. coli by 36 million organisms.
• 4 rain barrels were delivered to property owners for rainwater harvesting.