This dashboard provides North Carolina’s drinking water utilities, municipalities, and other related organizations with insight into potential social or environmental burdens that may impact the populations they serve. It ties together demographic and environmental data from both national and state-level … Read more

In the summer of 2022, the UNC EFC began a research project regarding decentralized users (those on private wells and septic systems) in North Carolina, supported by funding from the NC Collaboratory. This research was a new venture for the … Read more

  The North Carolina Division of Water Infrastructure provides funding to North Carolina local government units for water, wastewater, and stormwater projects. In 2021, the US Congress appropriated additional funds to states via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), … Read more

In spring of 2023, the UNC Environmental Finance provided the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) with recommendations on how to potentially structure and administer a new customer assistance program (CAP) for their service area, which includes areas of Chapel … Read more

  EFC developed a tool for the Division of Water Infrastructure in support of the Viable Utility Program. The Viable Utility Program includes a master plan to help utilities throughout North Carolina become viable. This tool demonstrates which utilities were … Read more

Across the United States, the cost of water is rising, in large part due to the growing cost of water system maintenance, especially for small water systems. In 2022, UNC EFC was pleased to partner with Digital P Media to … Read more

Click the images or the button below to download the How Can Local Governments in North Carolina Assess Affordability of Water and Wastewater Rates one-pager.

The Environmental Finance Center at UNC-CH offers free one-on-one technical assistance for systems providing drinking water for up to 10,000 people and wastewater services for up to 1 million gallons per day. For more information on technical assistance and services … Read more

  This tool visualizes different ways revenue could be generated for watershed protection in the Beaver Lake Watershed. The tool allows users to input a project cost and visualize how changes to water, wastewater, stormwater, and electricity rates can generate … Read more

Affordability of residential rates is a comparative concept, the place where income and expenditures cross. A common metric used to assess affordability is the proportion of the Median Household Income of the community that would be spent on a year’s … Read more