12 - CWEP FY21 Annual Report

  
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Clean Water
Education
Partnership
Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Report date: 8/18/2021

Prepared by:
Maya Cough-Schulze, Water Resources Planner
[e-mail]
919-558-9389

Hannah Barg, CWEP Education and Outreach Coordinator
[e-mail]
919-558-9341

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLES .................................................................................................................................... III 
FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. III 
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... III 
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... IV 
1.0 CWEP FISCAL YEAR 2021 ACTIVITY SUMMARY ................................................................... 1 
1.1 NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERS ........................................................................ 1 
1.2 NEW CWEP EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS WITH PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS ........... 1 
1.3 CWEP MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN ACCOMPLISHMENTS ................................................ 3 
1.3.1 New Media Created in FY21 .......................................................................................3 
1.3.2 Radio Campaign .........................................................................................................3 
1.3.3 Spectrum Digital Campaigns ......................................................................................4 
1.3.4 Capitol Broadcasting Company Campaigns ................................................................7 
1.3.5 La Noticia Campaign ................................................................................................ 10 
1.3.6 Overall Mass Media Campaign Values .................................................................... 11 
1.4 CWEP DIRECT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ACCOMPLISHMENTS ............................ 13 
1.4.1 Public Education and Outreach ............................................................................... 13 
1.4.2 Public Engagement and Participation ..................................................................... 16 
1.4.3 Social Media Outreach ............................................................................................ 19 
1.5 CWEP STEERING COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES .................................................................. 21 
2.0 PROGRAM FINANCIAL INFORMATION .............................................................................. 22 
2.1 CWEP PARTNERS AND COST SHARES ......................................................................... 22 
2.2 CWEP PROGRAM FINANCIAL REPORT FOR FY21 ........................................................ 23 
APPENDIX:  STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARIES.................................................. 25 

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TABLES
Table 1: FY21 CBC Digital Impressions .................................................................................................. 8 
Table 2: FY21 CBC TV Impressions by Station ....................................................................................... 9 
Table 3: FY21 Overall Mass Media Campaign Values .......................................................................... 11 
Table 4: FY21 Estimated Impressions by Jurisdiction .......................................................................... 12 
Table 5: FY21 Direct Education Efforts in CWEP Partner Communities ................................................ 14 
Table 6: Regional Education Efforts .................................................................................................... 15 
Table 7: FY21 Social Media Impact Summary...................................................................................... 20 
Table 8: FY21 CWEP Cost Shares ......................................................................................................... 22 
Table 9 : CWEP FY21 Financial Report ................................................................................................ 23 
Table 10: Projected FY22 CWEP Budget .............................................................................................. 24 

FIGURES
Figure 1: Local Government Partners Participating in CWEP as of FY21 ................................................ 2 
Figure 2: Radio One Station Information .............................................................................................. 4 
Figure 3: Digital Campaigns Illustration ................................................................................................ 5 
Figure 4: Spectrum Pre‐Roll Video Statistics FY21 ................................................................................. 6 
Figure 5: Spectrum In‐Banner Video Statistics FY21 .............................................................................. 6 
Figure 6: Streaming TV Impressions and Completion Rate FY21 ............................................................ 7 
Figure 7: Spectrum and CBC Campaigns Drive Website Traffic FY20‐21 ................................................. 8 
Figure 8: La Noticia Ad FY21 ‐ Yard Waste Theme ............................................................................... 10 
Figure 9: FY21 Example Direct Education Methods ............................................................................. 13 
Figure 10: Art pieces by Maddie and Camille, two of the Streets to Creeks winners ............................ 16 
Figure 11: FY21 RCW Logo .................................................................................................................. 17 
Figure 12: Summary of the 2021 Regional Creek Week social media engagement and examples of 
educational posts ............................................................................................................ 17 
Figure 13: Summary of the 2021 Regional Creek Week iNaturalist BioThon ........................................ 18 
Figure 14: Example Twitter and Facebook Posts from FY21 ................................................................ 20 

APPENDIX
Appendix 1: Steering Committee Meeting Summaries

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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CWEP Clean Water Education Partnership
CBC Capitol Broadcasting Corporation
FY fiscal year
Partner CWEP Partner Government
Program CWEP program
PSA Public Service Announcement
PTRC Piedmont Triad Regional Council
RCW Regional Creek Week
SMART Stormwater SMART
TJCOG Triangle J Council of Governments

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Executive Summary
The Clean Water Education Partnership (CWEP) is a program of Triangle J Council of Governments
(TJCOG). TJCOG serves a diverse seven-county region, promoting collaboration among local governments,
stakeholders and other partners, tackling challenges that cross jurisdictional lines. CWEP is a cooperative
effort (Program) between local governments, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations to protect water
quality in the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear River Basins. CWEP helps public entities communicate
the important fact that clean water is vital for healthy ecosystems and a high quality of life for area residents.
The Program is administered by TJCOG and is governed by a Steering Committee that is composed of
representatives from each Partner jurisdiction or agency. At the end of FY21, there were 41 local
government Partners in CWEP, including two new members, the Towns of Leland and Siler City, who began
participating fully in FY22. In FY21, the CWEP program developed and delivered high-quality stormwater
education and outreach to communities across the region, enabling the Partners to achieve more
cooperatively than they could individually.
The 2020-2021 fiscal year marked extensive development and expansion of CWEP’s direct stormwater
education and outreach portfolio, with the previous AmeriCorps service member transitioning to part-time
staff and leading all direct education efforts for CWEP Partner communities through various creative
avenues during the COVID-19 pandemic. CWEP continued to disseminate professional-quality animated
online videos and audio via online advertising, radio and broadcast TV, as well as in the Spanish-language
newspaper La Noticia. Additional details on these activities are described throughout this report. Please
note that some campaigns overlapped slightly into the 2022 fiscal year, but for the purposes of this report
and campaign summaries, efforts performed in July 2022 are considered part of FY21.

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1.0 CWEP FISCAL YEAR 2021 ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Fiscal year 2020-2021 presented unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and CWEP
continued to provide stormwater education through both existing and new methods to adapt education
methods. In FY21, CWEP continued to provide education via similar mass media outlets as in previous
years, substituting cinema for radio, and built on previous years’ direct stormwater education and outreach
to efforts via virtual and socially distanced visits to classrooms, after-school programs, and festivals. New
in FY21, CWEP organized a virtual Regional Creek Week, interviewed local Water Leaders, created
Watershed Spotlights, and innovated with online engagement via social media and website platforms.
CWEP staff also worked with all Partners to set up individual Membership Agreements (for July 2021 start)
detailing CWEP’s annual offerings which will help document Partners’ and CWEP’s accomplishments and
responsibilities for reporting and audit purposes.
1.1 NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
Two new local government Partners, Leland and Siler City, joined CWEP at the end of FY21, to start in the
fiscal year 22. These two municipalities exemplify the wide range of types of communities who can benefit
from cooperative assistance with stormwater education. Leland is a coastal municipality with an MS4
permit which can use assistance with reaching a wider population as they grow rapidly; Siler City is a
Piedmont community with a downtown in the floodplain that regularly floods, and an active watershed
stewardship group that works within the Town Planning arena to help to address flooding and water quality
in the watershed covering downtown. Both see the benefit in CWEP providing stormwater education to
their citizens.
Local government Partners as of the start of FY21 are shown in the map on the following page.

1.2 NEW CWEP EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS WITH PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS
FY21 was an exciting year for continuing growth alongside organizations that have helped CWEP deepen
and focus outreach and education efforts in local government Partner communities. CWEP’s work with
NCDEQ Water Resources educator Lauren Daniel and Piedmont Triad Regional Council’s Stormwater
SMART program helped inform CWEP’s first virtual Regional Creek Week.
  2   Figure 1: Local Government Partners Participating in CWEP as of FY21

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1.3 CWEP MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1.3.1 New Media Created in FY21
In FY21 CWEP worked with a videographer to create a new introductory stormwater video, which can be
viewed on CWEP’s Youtube page here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8mi2F1Hfho. This video
defines stormwater runoff, shows how personal actions affect stormwater pollution and volume, and
presents ways that viewers can be engaged citizens to reduce stormwater pollution by “soaking it up,
spreading it out, and slowing it down.”
This combined live/cartoon video was created to introduce more in-depth information about stormwater
with a focus on positive actions viewers can take to retain/treat stormwater as well as prevent pollution.
The video introduces stormwater runoff at the neighborhood street/stream level and connects it to
downstream ecosystem needs and the whole watershed. This resource complements existing videos which
are focus on what viewers should not do to prevent creating common stormwater pollution sources.
In FY21 CWEP also created a new radio spot that introduces listeners to how they can take action to reduce
their impact on stormwater pollution. This radio spot was created to focus on the positive and to be short
enough for radio purposes.

1.3.2 Radio Campaign
In winter FY20-21, as theaters were closed or low in attendance due to COVID, CWEP Partners opted to
deliver stormwater public service announcements (PSAs) via radio instead. From Dec 7 – 28th, 2020, Radio
One of Raleigh ran 780 CWEP spots on three major stations (WFXC, WQOK & WNNL) as well as streaming
on these radio stations online. These stations reached across Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Orange and
Wake Counties and beyond. (CWEP Partners in the fringe of the Radio One stations’ coverage are received
proportionately more coverage as determined by their population in the CBC spring/summer campaign.)
Additionally, Radio One shared CWEP’s “Big 6 Stormwater Pollutant” posts weekly on each station’s social
media. The combined delivery methods Radio One used garnered an estimated 2,058,000 listeners across
the region.
The figure below shows demographic information associated with one of the stations on which Radio One
advertises.

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1.3.2.1 Radio Campaign Value
Overall, the total cost to the CWEP program was $11,000 for FY21 radio programming. There was a total of
2,058,000 impressions delivered with these funds, for an average per-impression cost of $0.005. Radio
continued to be a viable public education method during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an excellent return
on investment compared to other mass media delivery methods.
1.3.3 Spectrum Digital Campaigns
Spectrum ran CWEP’s yard waste-focused 30-second video spot from April 6th, 2021 through June 27th,
2021 online and via streaming TV networks across CWEP Partner communities. Spectrum used digital
Figure 2: Radio One Station Information

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analytics to target adults with yard/garden and environmental interests who were homeowners, under the
assumption that these audiences would be most receptive to changing their behaviors regarding collection
and disposal of yard waste, CWEP’s priority pollutant for FY21.
The video was shared digitally via pre-roll ads (in which a viewer must watch the spot in its entirety to
continue to their chosen content), as in-banner videos (in which a small window loops the spot in the
sidebar of the viewer’s chosen content) and in the text of articles. See below for an illustration of these
outreach methods.

Viewers that clicked on the spot in either capacity were directed to the CWEP website described earlier in
this report. The Spectrum digital campaign was based on a pilot program launched in 2015, which gathered
347,105 impressions; during 2021, Spectrum digital campaign generated over 1,842,279 impressions across
the region. (As the spot was delivered online, these are verified actual video plays rather than estimates.)
This total includes pre-roll and in-banner ads described above and detailed below, as well as via streaming
TV ads described below.
1.3.3.1 Pre-rolls
Statistics for the 3-month Spectrum pre-roll campaign are provided in the chart below. Overall, 58% of the
over 1,047,307 impressions resulted in a user viewing the 30-second video in its entirety. These views also
resulted in nearly 2,500 people clicking through to visit the CWEP website.
Figure 3: Digital Campaigns Illustration

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1.3.3.2 In-Banner Video
Statistics are provided in the chart below for the 3-month Spectrum in-banner video campaign, which
garnered an additional 530,697 impressions. This also resulted in over 4,640 engagements, which is when
a user clicks on, hovers over to gain additional information, or otherwise interacts with the video. These in-
banner videos also resulted in over 400 additional site visits to the CWEP website.

1.3.3.3 TV-Everywhere Campaign
Spectrum also ran the subtitled 30-second spot as part of their TV-Everywhere system, which allows users
to view cable television in real-time on their personal devices such as smartphones and tablets. Commercial
breaks during the cable programming are filled with ad slots. 95% of viewers completed the video using this
outreach method—an unprecedented rate—and this campaign generated an additional 264,275 impressions
Figure 5: Spectrum In-Banner Video Statistics FY21
Figure 4: Spectrum Pre-Roll Video Statistics FY21

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across the region. Top networks the public viewed the yard waste PSA on included MSNBC, TVLand, and
the ESPN App.

1.3.3.4 Spectrum Digital Campaign Value
Overall, the total cost to the CWEP program was $30,000 for all FY21 digital advertising through Spectrum.
There was a total of 1,842,157 verified impressions delivered with these funds for an average per-impression
cost of $0.016 per impression. (This was approximately 300,000 more impressions than in FY20.) The
continued return on investment continues to show the importance of online advertising.
1.3.4 Capitol Broadcasting Company Campaigns
In FY21, CWEP continued the relationship began with Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) in 2018 to
reach the broadcast television market across the region CWEP serves. FY21 campaigns included additional
digital coverage similar to the Spectrum campaign, as well as network television advertisements described
in sections below. Delivering CWEP’s message via both CBC and Spectrum sends more of the public to the
Figure 6: Streaming TV Impressions and Completion Rate FY21

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CWEP website than either campaign would alone. At CWEP’s website, the public can learn more in depth
about stormwater education than is possible to convey in a 30-second PSA.

1.3.4.1 CBC – Digital Campaign
CBC ran the 30-second spot from March through July of 2021 as pre-rolls and as in-banner videos. Viewers
that clicked on the spot in either capacity were directed to the CWEP website. During FY21, this campaign
generated 337,655 impressions across the region. The table below outlines the final digital campaign
statistics. As the spot was delivered online, these are verified actual video plays rather than estimates.
Table 1: FY21 CBC Digital Impressions
Month Tactic Impressions Clicks CTR 
March WRAL.com Preroll 17,503 175 1.00% 
WRAL.com Run of Site Display  50,012 61 0.12% 
April WRAL.com Preroll 17,505 58 0.33% 
WRAL.com Run of Site Display  50,014 150 0.30% 
May WRAL.com Preroll 17,503 46 0.26% 
WRAL.com Run of Site Display  50,018 180 0.36% 
June WRAL.com Preroll 17,529 74 0.42% 
WRAL.com Run of Site Display  50,059 178 0.36% 
July WRAL.com Preroll  17,500 44 0.25%  
  WRAL.com Run of Site Display    50,022 86 0.17% 
  Total  337,665 1,052 0.31% 
Figure 7: Spectrum and CBC Campaigns Drive Website Traffic FY20-21

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1.3.4.2 CBC – Broadcast TV Campaign
The table below outlines the final statistics of the CBC broadcast television campaign for CWEP. Overall,
the television market in the CWEP region saw an estimated 6,863,349 impressions. Of these, 2,693,294
were provided in-kind by CBC. Per CBC representative Elizabeth Kline, this is a likely undercount of actual
impressions as staff who support the Nielsen rating system (which CBC uses to estimate impressions) were
not permitted to go into homes experiencing outages during the pandemic. Kline reported that alternative
measurements to the Nielsen system have shown viewership to be equal to in past years, but as CBC uses
Nielsen for now, they are reported here as a conservative estimate.

Table 2: FY21 CBC TV Impressions by Station
Station 
Commercials 
Aired 
% of Market 
Reached Impressions 
WRAL 18  14.1%   567,000 
WRAZ  73 46.3%   1,601,000 
WRAL2 50   4.4% 127,000  
ME TV  200 44.8%  1,626,000  
WITN (New Bern)  123  83.1%  1,384,000 
MY TV  133  30.9%  287,000 
ME TV (New 
Bern) 118   61.2% 1,049,000  
OTT n/a n/a 222,349 
    Total 6,863,349 

1.3.4.3 Capital Broadcasting Campaign Value
Overall, the total cost to the CWEP program was $61,250 for digital and broadcast TV advertising through
Capital Broadcasting Company. There was a total of 7,201,014 impressions delivered with these funds, for
an average per-impression cost of $0.0085.

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1.3.5 La Noticia Campaign
In FY21 CWEP continued advertising in the Spanish-language newspaper La Noticia once weekly for 10
months. CWEP began advertising with La Noticia in 2019. Its print newspaper is estimated to reach 86,250
readers per week, yielding 862,500 impressions over the course of the campaign at a cost of $1,920, or
$0.002 per view.
In FY21, CWEP staff developed the yard waste PSA shown below, which La Noticia staff translated into
Spanish. This ad highlighted the importance of properly disposing of yard waste to prevent pollution and
clogging of storm drains which can contribute to flooding.

Figure 8: La Noticia Ad FY21 - Yard Waste Theme

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1.3.6 Overall Mass Media Campaign Values
Total costs and value (as measured by number of impressions) of all mass media outlets are summarized in
the table below.

There was a total of 11,963,783 impressions delivered with these funds, for an average per-impression cost
of $0.009. As shown in the table below, this resulted in approximately 5.7 times the number of impressions
than there are people living in the region. This illustrates how delivering CWEP’s stormwater quality
messages via multiple mass media campaigns makes the content ubiquitous across the region, an important
role of public education.
The following section about Direct Education elaborates on CWEP’s in-depth education accomplishments
in FY21. These complement mass media’s broad reach and help cement learning outcomes that lead to
behavior change.

Media Type Specific Media 
Campaign
Number of 
impressions
Cost of 
campaign 
Per‐impression cost 
per provider
Radio Total  Winter Radio  One 2,058,000 $11,000 $0.005
Spectrum Display 530,697
Preroll 1,047,307
TV ‐Everywhere 264,275
Total  Spectrum 1,842,279 $30,000 $0.016
CBC Digital 337,655
Broadcast TV 6,863,349
Total  CBC 7,201,004 $61,250 $0.009
La Noticia Total Annual La Noticia 862,500 $1,920 $0.002
GRAND TOTAL 11,963,783 $104,170 $0.009
Table 3: FY21 Overall Mass Media Campaign Values

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Partner Population* for FY21 Impressions
Town of Apex 52,842 301,549
Town of Benson 3,498 19,962
Town of Butner 8,036 45,858
Town of Carrboro 20,715 118,213
Town of Cary 162,321 926,305
Town of Chapel Hill 57,528 328,291
Chatham County 74,264 423,797
Town of Clayton 21,158 120,741
City of Creedmoor 4,666 26,627
City of Durham 265,055 1,512,569
Durham County 41,837 238,748
City of Fayetteville 187,877 1,072,143
Town of Fuquay-Varina 26,924 153,645
Town of Garner 30,783 175,667
City of Goldsboro 33,636 191,948
City of Havelock 19,766 112,797
Town of Hillsborough 7,483 42,703
Town of Holly Springs 34,068 194,413
Town of Hope Mills 16,827 96,025
Johnston County 142,274 811,904
City of Kinston 20,184 115,182
Town of Knightdale 15,305 87,340
Town of Morrisville 26,041 148,606
Nash County 41,910 239,165
Town of Nashville 5,221 29,794
City of New Bern 30,139 171,992
Orange County 55,316 315,668
City of Oxford 8,504 48,529
Town of Pittsboro 4,615 26,336
City of Raleigh 455,420 2,598,911
City of Rocky Mount 54,644 311,833
City of Roxboro 8,181 46,686
Town of Smithfield 11,432 65,238
Town of Spring Lake 4,581 26,142
Town of Tarboro 10,536 60,125
Town of Wake Forest 37,279 212,737
Wayne County 83,489 476,440
Town of Wendell 7,132 40,700
Town of Zebulon 4,986 28,453
Total 2,096,473 11,963,783
(based on July 2018 certified pop from NC State Demography)
Table 4: FY21 Estimated Impressions by Jurisdiction

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1.4 CWEP DIRECT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1.4.1 Public Education and Outreach
Between August 2020 and July 2021, CWEP conducted 25 direct education efforts in partner communities
reaching a total of 5,094 individuals. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts for specific local
government Partners included virtual presentations and lessons, focused social media posts, and resource
sharing. In the late spring/early summer of 2021, CWEP returned to in-person education visits (see table
on the following page for details).
The photographs below picture a selection of education and outreach events, and the table on the following
page lists all direct events for specific local governments in FY21.
Elizabeth, Town of Clayton Intern, tabling with CWEP at Square to Square festival; Carmela, City of Raleigh doing the Enviroscape
lesson at an Environmental Justice Summer Camp; Tony Victor, Town of Morrisville, teaching Morrisville Elementary School students
about local green infrastructure over Google Meet; Example of a Watershed Spotlight social media post for Orange County
Figure 9: FY21 Example Direct Education Methods

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(n/a= resources were distributed by a community partner and not able to be estimated)
Additionally in FY21, 545 people received CWEP educational materials (stormwater brochures, stickers,
pet-waste bags, and cooking grease lids available in English and Spanish) via mail or in-person event. This
total includes individuals who attended tabling events, Watershed Academy and Watershed Learning
Network participants, and materials mailed to Stormwater Art Contest & BioThon winners, as well as
giveways provided to Kinston and Knightdale upon request.
In response to COVID- related event cancellations, CWEP started a social media Watershed Spotlight series
highlighting subwatersheds located in partner communities, reaching nearly 3,000 individuals with these
posts. CWEP also conducted 4 virtual school visits and 2 virtual presentations to community watershed
education groups. Finally, in FY21 CWEP shared stormwater education resources (recorded storytimes,
Table 5: FY21 Direct Education Efforts in CWEP Partner Communities

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take-and-make crafts and online/at-home activities) with 3 rural libraries to distribute to patrons after
having to cancel scheduled events due to COVID.
In addition to continuing direct education for specific member governments, during FY21 CWEP expanded
regional efforts, which benefit all Partners simultaneously. This included CWEP’s first annual Regional
Creek Week, a stormwater art competition, and the introduction of a virtual Water Leaders Series. The table
below outlines the number of events/education efforts and people reached via each of these efforts during
FY21. The following section give a detailed description of each of these efforts.

n/a= interview was conducted but has not yet been posted.

1.4.1.1 Education and Outreach in Environmental Justice Communities
In FY21, CWEP continued outreach in partner communities with a focus on reaching underserved
individuals, defined as including youth from title I schools, rural communities with high poverty rates, and
historically black neighborhoods.
During presentations to the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association’s Watershed Academy (Durham) and
Partners for Environmental Justice’s Watershed Learning Network (Raleigh) CWEP engaged with 36
community members living in low-income and historically black neighborhoods who experience
disproportionate flooding and water quality issues. Participants in each of these programs learned about
stormwater pollution, watersheds, green infrastructure, and environmental justice while also planning a
community action project to engage others in their community.
Table 6: Regional Education Efforts

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In April of 2021 CWEP received a $2,500 minigrant from the River Network to continue building
relationships with individuals or organizations in CWEP partner communities who are doing
Environmental Justice work. CWEP staff engaged with Partner staff and community members at the Spring
Lake Community Center Litter Clean Up and while tabling at the Juneteenth Community Empowerment
Festival in Rocky Mount. Initial connections have been made with plans to schedule an education visit with
these contacts in the Fall/winter of 2021.
Other programs that reached individuals living in environmental justice communities included Stem4All
library visit in Kinston and a lesson at an Environmental Justice Summer Camp in Raleigh. Overall, CWEP
reached 141 individuals during these 6 educational visits conducted virtually or in person.

1.4.2 Public Engagement and Participation
1.4.2.1 Streets to Creeks Stormwater Art Competition
From August 5th to September 5th, 2021, CWEP hosted a Streets to Creeks Stormwater Art Competition
which was advertised via the North Carolina Environmental Education List-Serv and through social media.
Participants were challenged to respond to the prompt: “how do you interact with your watershed?” and
include what watershed they live in as a part of their submission. Thirteen submissions and their
accompanying artist statements were judged by CWEP staff, with weekly 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.
Winning art pieces were mailed prizes (a set of reusable straws and CWEP stormwater brochure), featured
in a CWEP blog post, and considered for an opportunity to serve as the CWEP website background for a
month.

Figure 10: Art pieces by Maddie and Camille, two of the Streets to Creeks winners

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1.4.2.2 Regional Creek Week: “Water Connects Us”
From March 13-20th, 2021, CWEP hosted the first annual Regional Creek Week (RCW). Ten CWEP Partners
(Cary, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Durham County, Garner, Hillsborough, Holly Springs, Oxford and
Raleigh) participated in monthly planning meetings from November 2020-March 2021 and hosted at least
one in-person or virtual event during the Regional Creek Week celebration. This collaborative effort allowed
local governments of various sizes to participate in Creek Week without the pressure to coordinate a whole
week’s worth of events, and virtual or socially distanced events allowed for public engagement while
remaining safe during the pandemic.
The CWEP website acted as the RCW landing page, which housed a
complete list of events, videos, participating Partners, and a
description of the theme, “water connects us”. CWEP also designed the
logo and created daily educational social media posts during the RCW.
CWEP reached a total of 36,734 people with 10 posts throughout the
week on 3 social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram).
The figure below gives an overview of the 2021 RCW social media
impact.

Figure 11: FY21 RCW Logo
Figure 12: Summary of the 2021 Regional Creek Week social media engagement and examples of
educational posts

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In addition to coordinating planning, promotion, and social media for the RCW, CWEP also ran a “BioThon”
via the iNaturalist app/website to promote public engagement across CWEP local governments. The goal
of this effort was for the public to catalog plant and animal species across the CWEP region via safe
experiential outdoor education during the pandemic. By appealing to broad interest in flora and fauna,
CWEP strove to foster peoples’ interest in their impact on stormwater runoff and the wildife it affects.
Anyone with a smartphone or computer can snap photos of plants and animals and upload them to the
iNaturalist app/website where other users help identify them. Participants “joined” the project to have their
observations count toward the RCW iNaturalist Biothon. At the landing page, they learned what the RCW
was and had the option to click through to CWEP’s website to learn more about stormwater.
One week before the RCW, CWEP partnered with the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, the Museum of
Life and Science and Keep Durham Beautiful to host a virtual training webinar for new iNaturalist users.
After the week was up, four BioThon participants received educational prizes for the “most unique find”,
“most notable naturalist”, “most valuable identifier” and “first-time observer”. There were 89 observers that
made 379 species observations and 18 identifiers who made 719 identifications (some observations have
multiple IDs) for a total of 107 participants in the BioThon. The figure below shows an overview of public
engagement via this iNaturalist BioThon.

Figure 13: Summary of the 2021 Regional Creek Week iNaturalist BioThon

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1.4.2.3 Water Leaders Series
Another Regional effort that CWEP began during FY21 was the Water Leaders Series, where CWEP staff
interviewed leaders making a difference in the water resource sector. To date, CWEP has conducted 5
interviews with the following individuals:
 Keshi Satterwhite, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (Durham)
 Tots Height, Partners for Environmental Justice (Raleigh)
 Amin Davis, NC Department of Environmental Quality (Regional/statewide)
 Terry Hackett, Town of Hillsborough
 Scott Miles, Town of Rocky Mount
During the interviews, water leaders were asked about their relationship to water, how they got involved in
work in the sector, and about any interesting projects they are currently working on. Interviews are then
edited and posted on the CWEP YouTube page. The purpose of this project was to showcase the wide range
jobs and paths to careers in water resources available to youth CWEP engages.

1.4.3 Social Media Outreach
FY21 was the first fiscal year that CWEP regularly posted across 4 social media platforms (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube), increasing the reach of virtual stormwater outreach across the region.
As mentioned previously, social media was an especially important tool utilized to promote regional efforts
such as the Stormwater Art Contest, Regional Creek Week, iNaturalist BioThon, and the Water Leaders
Series. CWEP also utilized this platform to spread educational messages about stormwater pollution and
watersheds, post blog updates, and share information about water-related holidays and events. From July
1, 2020-June 30, 2021, CWEP made 163 posts across 4 platforms which garnered 1,814 engagements (likes,
comments, reposts and/ or clicks).
Combined Facebook and Twitter posts were seen by approximately 46,441 people. This data was only
available from Facebook and Twitter analytics for “reach” – the number of people who viewed (but did not
necessarily engage with) a post - analogous to impressions as described in the mass media section. The wide
reach of these posts underscores the importance of continuing to use social media to spread stormwater
awareness in CWEP partner governments and beyond. Table 9 shows the social media analytics by platform.

20

* These totals exclude social media posts counted as a part of other metrics above
(i.e. posts during Regional Creek Week and the Watershed Spotlight Series posts)

Educational posts about stormwater pollutants and watersheds tended to garner high engagement across
social media platforms. These types of posts serve a similar role as mass media CWEP print materials and
videos as the content is general enough to be regionally relevant. These posts were often reposted by CWEP
partner governments. Tactics CWEP utilized to increase the reach of each post included utilizing consistent
and relevant hashtags, tagging local government Partners and relevant community organizations and
resharing content from partner government pages.

Table 7: FY21 Social Media Impact Summary*
Figure 14: Example Top Twitter Post from FY21

21

1.5 CWEP STEERING COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES
The CWEP Steering Committee met for quarterly meetings on July 14, 2020; October 13, 2020; February
9, 2021; and April 13, 2021. Summaries and minutes for all FY21 meetings are included in Appendix A of
this report. As in past years, Steering Committee meetings were used as an opportunity to outline in depth
current CWEP program activities and finances, and to solicit input on future directions. The transition to
virtual Steering Committee meetings has prompted broader engagement from Partners located farther from
Durham, an unanticipated positive turn of events.

22

2.0 PROGRAM FINANCIAL
INFORMATION

2.1 CWEP PARTNERS AND COST
SHARES
CWEP local government Partners share the
costs of the program. Each of the Partners’
shares is the sum of a base cost of $2,000 and a
proportionate cost comprised of its population
multiplied by a per-capita rate of $0.041 per
person. Partner population estimates are the
latest official estimates available from the NC
State Demographics unit at the time that cost
shares are calculated (FY21 used 2018 certified
estimates). The CWEP Steering Committee
approved the CWEP FY21 program cost shares
outlined in the table at right and all partners
were invoiced for these amounts in July-August
2020.

Table 8: FY21 CWEP Cost Shares
Partner Population* for FY21 Cost Share
Tow n of Apex
2,5 52,842 $4,167.00
Town of Benson 2 3,498 $2,143.00
Town of Butner 2 8,036 $2,329.00
Town of Carrboro 2,5 20,715 $2,849.00
Tow n of Cary
1,2,5 162,321 $8,655.00
Tow n of Chapel Hill
2,5 *57,528 $4,359.00
Chatham County 2,5 74,264 $5,045.00
Tow n of Clayton
2 21,158 $2,867.00
City of Creedmoor 2 4,666 $2,191.00
City of Durham 1,3,5 265,055 $12,867.00
Durham County 1,5 41,837 $3,715.00
City of Fayetteville 187,877 $9,703.00
Tow n of Fuquay-Varina
2 26,924 $3,104.00
Tow n of Garner
1,2 30,783 $3,262.00
City of Goldsboro 1,2 33,636 $3,379.00
City of Havelock 1 19,766 $2,810.00
Town of Hillsborough 2 7,483 $2,307.00
Tow n of Holly Springs
2 34,068 $3,397.00
Tow n of Hope Mills
2 16,827 $2,690.00
Johnston County 1 142,274 $7,833.00
City of Kinston 1 20,184 $2,828.00
Town of Knightdale 2 15,305 $2,628.00
Tow n of Morrisville
2,5 26,041 $3,068.00
Nash County 2,4 41,910 $3,718.00
Tow n of Nashville 5,221 $2,214.00
City of New Bern 1,2 30,139 $3,236.00
Orange County 1,2,5 55,316 $4,268.00
City of Oxford 4 8,504 $2,349.00
Town of Pittsboro 5 4,615 $2,189.00
City of Raleigh 1,3 *455,420 $20,672.00
City of Rocky Mount 2,4 54,644 $4,240.00
City of Roxboro 2 8,181 $2,335.00
Tow n of Smithfield
1 11,432 $2,469.00
Tow n of Spring Lake
2 *4,581 $2,188.00
Town of Tarboro 4 10,536 $2,432.00
Tow n of Wake Forest
2 37,279 $3,528.00
Wayne County 1,2 83,489 $5,423.00
Town of Wendell 2 7,132 $2,292.00
Town of Zebulon 2 4,986 $2,204.00
(based on July 2018 certified  pop from NC State Demography)

23

2.2 CWEP PROGRAM FINANCIAL REPORT FOR FY21
The table below outlines the approved FY21 budget. In FY21, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred changes such
as discontinuing 2021 cinema and hiring the FY21 CWEP AmeriCorps as part-time, temporary staff in lieu
of a FY21 AmeriCorps to build on virtual education and outreach efforts she initiated from March 2020
onward.

Budgeted Actual
FY21 Cost Share Revenue 163,953$      163,953$      
River Network Grant Revenue 2,500$           
Fund Balance  at close  of FY20 61,736$         61,736$         
Total  225,689$      228,189$      
TJCOG Staff Time  (30% Planner II, 1000 hours Planner I) 55,563$         50,119$         
Travel, Supplies, Miscellaneous 7,300$           2,628$           
TJCOG  Direct Costs Total 62,863$         52,747$         
Spring Digital  Campaign (Spectrum) 30,000$         40,960$         
Spring/Summer Broadcast Campaign (CBC) 60,000$         61,345$         
Winter Radio 12,000$         11,000$         
La Noticia Ads 1,920$           1,920$           
Mass Media Campaign Costs Total 103,920$      115,225$      
Physical Direct Education/Outreach Materials 1,500$           623$               
Campaign Content & Outreach Materials Totals 1,500$           623$               
Total  Expenses 168,283$      168,595$      
FY21 Use  of Fund Balance 4,330$           2,142$           
Fund Balance  at end of  FY21 57,406$         59,594$         
TJCOG  Direct Costs
Mass Media Campaign Costs
Campaign Content & Outreach Materials
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP  (CWEP)                                     
FY2021 AVAILABLE FUNDS
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP                                             
FY2021 EXPENDITURES
Table 9 : CWEP FY21 Financial Report

24

The table below outlines the proposed FY22 budget. In FY22, CWEP will return to having an AmeriCorps
service member deliver direct education in person and/or virtually. Current CWEP part-time education
staff member Hannah Barg will continue to support social media and direct education. CWEP staff and
Partners will determine whether cinema or radio advertising makes sense in winter 2021 depending on the
state of the pandemic. Modest funds have also been reserved for video editing and mass media printing to
support the second Regional Creek Week, printing of restaurant outreach materials, or other needs as
mutually determined by Partners.

Table 10: Projected FY22 CWEP Budget
FY21 Cost Share Revenue 170,696$      
Fund Balance  at close  of FY21 59,594$        
Total  230,290$      
TJCOG Staff Time 46,048$        
AmeriCorps Member 11,000$        
Travel, Supplies, Miscellaneous 7,400$          
TJCOG  Direct Costs Total 64,448$        
Spring Online Spectrum Campaign 30,000$        
Spring/Summer CBC Campaign 61,250$        
Winter Cinema or Radio 11,000$        
La Noticia Ads 1,920$          
Video Editing/Production (Creek Week or other) 2,000$          
Mass Media Campaign Costs Total 106,170$      
Campaign Content & Outreach Materials 
Direct Education/Outreach Materials  1,000$          
Mass  Media  Printing (new materials, as needed) 2,000$          
Campaign Content & Outreach Materials Totals 3,000$          
Total  Expenses 173,618$      
FY22 Use  of  Fund Balance 2,922$          
Projected Available Fund Balance  at end of FY22 56,672$        
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP (CWEP)               
PROJECTED FY2022 AVAILABLE FUNDS
PROPOSED FY2022 EXPENDITURES
TJCOG  Direct Costs
Mass Media Campaign Costs

25 

APPENDIX:
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARIES

CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 1
SUMMARY
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
www.nc-cleanwater.com
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
July 14, 2020, 9:30-11:30am
Webex meeting (recording)
Present
Ashley Allen- City of Creedmoor
Charles Brown- Town of Cary
Carmela Teichman- City of Raleigh
Carrie Mitchell- Town of Wake Forest
Christy Perrin- (Guest Speaker) NC WRRI
Laura Wood- (Guest Speaker) Lincoln
Heights Environmental Connections
Magnet Elementary
Darrel Smith- City of Oxford
Deanna Rosario- Town of Spring Lake
Drew Blake- Chatham County
Heather Fisher- Town of Hillsborough
Ike Archer- Town of Knightdale
Jaclyn Stannard- Town of Garner
Jennifer Mitchell- Fuquay Varina
Jessica Batten- Johnston County
James Misciagno- Town of Apex
Laura Smith- City of Durham
Lauren Neaves- Durham County
Liz Barbulescue- City of Raleigh
Marie Cefalo- Town of Cary Stormwater
McKenzie Myers- Durham County
Phil Ross- City of Roxboro
Sammy Bauer- Town of Chapel Hill
Shauna Haslem- City of Fayetteville
Stephen Wensman- Town of Smithfield
Susan Locklear- Town of Clayton
Tommy Jones- Nash County
TJ Cawley- Town of Morrisville
Tony Morris- Town of Morrisvile
Will Lampe- Smithfield Stormwater Action
Committee
Randy Lansing- Town of Nashville

Program and Budget Updates – Maya Cough-Schulze
Spring/Summer 2020 mass media campaigns are proceeding well, wrapping up at the end of July.
CBC has garnered over 8 million impressions to date; Spectrum, nearly 2 million. TV Ads Everywhere
continue to see the highest video completion rate (98%.)

CWEP did not secure the $9000 grant from Clif Bar Foundation to put on Watershed Game trainings
in FY21. Staff are still waiting to hear back from NCDOJ EEG grant program about $40,000
application to kick off a Regional Creek Week incubator for 3 years. We expect to hear back in Sept-
Oct 2021, and plan to proceed with a Regional Creek Week in some form regardless (more pared
down if we do not get the grant funds.)

The group discussed the pollutant theme for FY21 and chose to focus on landscaping-related
pollutants (to include grass clippings, pesticides, fertilizers among others.) This will be timely since
many are working from home and doing more gardening/landscaping.

CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 2
Several partners mentioned that we should not create universal materials related to leaf collection
since that varies by jurisdiction. To cover this, we will prioritize adding links to local government leaf
collection pages to the CWEP website.

James Misciagno: Residents often notice and report algae blooms particularly in stormwater ponds;
this is an opportunity to educate them about sources of nutrient pollution that cause algal blooms
and algal toxicity (potential harm to dogs)

Jen: This is timely since many people are paying more attention to stormwater ponds and algae
blooms on walks around their neighborhood while working from home. We can use at-home
activities and virtual outreach to educate on this topic
Phil Ross: A lot of parents are getting their kids (students) involved in home gardens, etc.
CWEP’s Role in Promoting Equity
CWEP is currently promoting equitable access to stormwater education by prioritizing education in
Title I schools, making sure all our materials are in Spanish, participating in Ellerbe Creek Watershed
Association educational series for residents of East Durham and Braggtown, etc. Any similar
educational initiatives we can support, or partnerships we can build? What else can we do?
o Mass media (equity of investment)—expand radio advertising to cross the digital divide?
o Create more content related to equitable clean water outcomes?
Discussion:
• Christy Perrin: I highly recommend CWEP Partners participate in Racial Equity Training (REI).
They are now offering their shorter intro course online. I think understanding systemic racism
is key to moving forward.
• Drop off educational materials/giveaways at local governments’ food sharing locations?
o Hannah: Before shutdown, gave away activity bags including CWEP resources and
snacks. We included snacks as kids who depend on free lunches may be food
insecure right now
o Used opportunity to educate kids about litter when they had to decide what to do
with their snack wrappers
• Christy Perrin: Kids masks before school would be helpful!
o Laura Wood: Spoonflower in Durham might be an option for mask printing
o Liz Barbulescu: Would not want to litter masks - could use that as a messaging point
o Laura Wood: Students at Title 1 schools would have families less likely to afford
reusable masks... so maybe a key audience if that is an option moving forward
• Marie: Just noting we are talking about two focuses- yard waste as well as litter (masks, snack
wrappers, etc.). These ideas are running in parallel but are not directly connected. Is there a way
we could connect them?
o Could reach landscapers with our focus on yard waste which is a largely untapped
audience
o Also need to consider tie ins to COVID- could we create a mask print that is related to
yard waste if we give away masks?
CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 3
 Maya: Landscaping happens on school grounds, and Christy Perrin has
experience with implementing demonstration rain gardens on school
grounds. We can tie these together.
 Marie: I am concerned that we're talking about schools without even
knowing how schools are going to operate this year. If we have intel, it would
be nice to hear in advance of this presentation.
• Laura Wood: Governor Cooper will be speaking at 3pm today about
school reopening.
• Maya: Hannah will be discussing what we know so far about school
reopening later.
 Susan Locklear: Not sure this year is a good idea to engage with schools with
the COVID situation.
• Jen: Bringing it back to the 5-year plan, we have talked about doing something at the State Fair
in the past- We can check if they plan to have a virtual platform. We have also talked about a
stormwater runoff 5k- going virtual would make this event easier because in-person creates a
lot more logistics.
Wake County Green Schools Partnership Presentation – Christy Perrin, NC WRRI and Laura Wood,
Lincoln Heights Elementary
• Goal: connecting formal and informal educators and providing resources for stormwater educators
o Kicked off with a big meeting right before shutdown
• How Wake County educators can get involved:
o Google group coming soon!
o Create and share videos for teachers to add to virtual lessons
o Host live outdoor virtual events in parks or by a creek
o In future, WCGSP plans to provide educational opportunities for teachers, with PD credit.
Additionally, provide teachers with tours of stormwater infrastructure on their grounds to
equip them with spots for outdoor learning, and give hands-on support identifying, building,
maintaining GSI on school grounds
• Suggestions to apply the Green Schools model in other counties:
o Assemble an interdisciplinary team
o Ask teachers what they need, don’t assume you know (could include education for teachers,
students, addressing on-site issues and opportunities?)
o Meet and set short-term goals to work together right away
o Having a 3rd party facilitator (like Christy) can be helpful
Wake County Green Schools Partnership’s online teaching resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vvkM0SE0AiE_Wm9CBxpTUBEFTSJuI8oOWfSN8CtWQho/edit
Discussion:
Laura Smith: After any virtual lessons, recommend providing an editable Google Doc as a follow up
resource with questions/suggestions for teachers.
o Also, make content something students can interact with and hand back as a completed
assignment
o Durham Science Alliance is a similar model, led by the science coordinators for Durham Public
Schools and meets quarterly to vision, set goals, have a presenter, and allow nonformal
educators and classroom teachers to network and share opportunities.
CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 4

Ashley Allen: Granville County has already started their virtual academy signups as well

Direct Education Updates, Lesson Demo, and Plans for Next Year
Congratulations to Hannah on her second week as a part-time staff member of CWEP! She can
continue to provide great resources as she also begins an MS in experiential and outdoor education
through Western Carolina University.
• Overview of FY20 direct education accomplishments during Hannah’s AmeriCorps term:
o At least 3000 people reached (via in-person or virtual event; does not include social media)
o 21 community programs
o 11 school visits
o 8 virtual programming events
o Reached 570 students at 6 Title 1 schools
o Created 4 new NC curriculum standard-aligned lessons
o 940% increase in Facebook post engagements since Hannah took over CWEP’s social media
o Updated and restructured CWEP’s website
o Assisted with writing of 2 grant proposals
School reopening guidelines / implications for FY21:
o Guests will not be allowed in schools in fall, so Hannah will focus on continuing to create
virtual lessons and connect with teachers to deliver virtual lessons (particularly in Partner
communities who did not receive an in-person visit in FY20 due to COVID). Her lessons are
curriculum-aligned, so teachers should see them as a part of the curriculum, not an add-on.
o Governor Cooper was to make an announcement July 1 about school reopening which was
postponed until 3pm today, 7/14
 Per N&O, 7/14/20 3pm: “Cooper announced that K-12 public schools will reopen
under a “moderate social distancing” plan that limits how many people can be on
campus, forcing many students to get a mix of in-person and remote instruction.
The reopening plan requires daily temperature and health screening checks,
maintaining 6 feet of social distancing and face coverings to be worn by all school
employees and students.”
o Several resources may be helpful for teachers/informal educators (living documents linked
below):
 Lighting Our Way Forward: NC Guidebook for Reopening Schools (Dept of Public
Instruction)--most up-to-date guidance for school reopening
 Strong Schools NC Public Health Toolkit (Dept of Health and Human Services—
link includes Spanish version, various other resources). Specifies how schools
should integrate state health guidelines with reopening plan (recess,
handwashing, meals, etc.)
CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 5
 eeGuidance for Reopening Schools (NAEE and EENC)—outlines how
environmental education can be integrated into reopening plans, aligned with NC
curriculum standards
Nearpod virtual lesson demonstration
• Showcases virtual options Hannah can deliver in CWEP communities in FY21 (Hannah can also
provide guidance to partners/teachers who would like to use Nearpod)
o Access the student-paced version by going to https://nearpod.com/student/ and enter code
YSHRU (note that interactive offerings that require multiple participants don’t work in
student-paced version; view recording to see these)
o Nearpod offerings summarized:
 Interactive features:
• Quiz competition where students’ cartoon avatars answer questions
about stormwater to climb a mountain--students get points based on
how fast and correct they answer.
o Other similar platforms include Kahoot, which Phil Ross has used
for the Envirothon and Laura Wood says is used frequently in
elementary schools.
o Students’ answers to quiz questions can be saved/exported for
teachers to evaluate learning outcomes
• Matching photos of green stormwater infrastructure with definitions
• Posting answers to an open-ended water question on a virtual corkboard
 Presentation features:
• Can upload a 360-degree photo as a Virtual Reality experience for
students. Hannah uses a photo of the river basin the students reside in,
and asks students how they see people interacting with their watershed
in the VR experience
• Hannah gives an overview presentation about stormwater that can be
customized for any age group; easy to import an existing presentation
from Google Slides
Virtual/in person education needs poll for the coming year
Hannah shared a poll question: What remote/ virtual resources for stormwater education will be most
useful to your local government in FY21? Multiple choice answers included:
• PSA videos about stormwater topics
• Recordings of stormwater lessons/ activities
• Virtual field trips
• Resources for at-home activities and lessons
• Online modules to share with teachers and other educators
• Promoting community-wide/region-wide challenges (BioBlitz, litter clean-ups, storm drain clean-
ups)

CWEP July 14, 2020 Steering Committee Meeting Summary p. 6
The top categories of those who responded were PSA vides (33%) and self-paced online lessons (33%)
followed by virtual field trips (20%). Please feel free to email Maya, Hannah and Jen if you did not get a
chance to respond to the poll.

Ideas/Discussion
Laura Wood: I know access to digital resources is a concern for some families... check with your local
school system if so. WCPSS has ensured that every student has access to a device when we left
school in March.

Mayor TJ: Stormwater themed poster contest for local schools? Could be done virtually
• Reach out to schools early in the summer so that teachers can make it a part of their curriculum
• Could invite students to share their posters with the town council
Phil Ross: Students could have another time of virtual media-based presentation contest
1

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
FY21 Q2 STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
October 13, 2020
9:30 to 11:30am
Location: Remote; Microsoft Teams
Attendees:
Heather Holley, Town of Carrboro
Tony Victor, Town of Morrisville
Laura Smith, City of Durham
Carmela Teichman, City of Raleigh
Sammy Bauer, Town of Chapel Hill
Deanna Rosario, Town of Spring Lake
McKenzie Myers, Durham County
Fred Nelson, Town of Benson
Darrel Smith, Town of Oxford
Jessica Batten, Johnston County
Jennifer Mitchell, Town of Fuquay-Varina
Jaclyn Stannard, Town of Garner
Susan Locklear, Town of Clayton
Stephen Wensman, Town of Smithfield
Ike Archer, Town of Knightdale
Carrie Mitchell, Town of Wake Forest
James Misciagno, Town of Apex
Heather Fisher, Town of Hillsborough
TJ Cawley, Town of Morrisville
Emily Cochran, Town of Carrboro
Shauna Haslem, City of Fayetteville
Elizabeth Barbulescu, City of Raleigh
Tommy Jones, Nash County
Monica Sarna, Town of Wake Forest
Craig Benedict, Orange County
Allison Weakley, Town of Chapel Hill
Guests: Gary Weiss, Jim Coleman, Ron Phillips (Radio One); Danica Heflin (PTRC); Jeanette Powell and Trish D’Arconte
(NCDEQ)

Welcome, introductions
• Lightning Partner spotlight: Knightdale covered their stormwater truck with CWEP poster graphic to help advertise their
new stormwater hotline
• Had the truck wrap created by same company as police car wraps
2

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Please contact Maya and Ike if you have any questions about doing something similar
• Also, contact Maya if you would like to do a Partner Spotlight at a future meeting! We want to bring these back and keep
meetings as interactive as possible.

General Program Updates
Maya shared the following updates with the group:
Summer 2020 Digital Campaign Recap
• Capital Broadcasting Company continues to provide the best value (0.5 cents/impression) and highest number of
impressions (11.5 million) including generous in-kind impressions
• 4x increase in website views while both campaigns are running
• This information also shared via Annual Reports and monthly CWEP Communicator e-newsletter
Invoice and Annual Report Reminder
• All should have received invoices and the annual report from Maya- thanks to those of you who have already filed (about
2/3rds of you) and thanks in advance to everyone else for doing this!
Grants Update
• Maya is still waiting to hear about EEG grant. Checked in with the grantors and the selection committee has reviewed all
proposals, final decisions are still being made by Attorney General’s office
• The proposal was for a 3-year Regional Creek Week incubator; CWEP will assist Partners with a Regional Creek Week
regardless of grant funding. If awarded, grant funds would enable to CWEP staff to spend more time on the project over
the longer term! Regional Creek Week will likely be virtual or hybrid depending on needs.
Professional Development opportunity:
• Wow Wednesday Monthly Stormwater Webinars offered by NC DEMLR on a range of stormwater topics

Direct Education Updates
New Education Content
• Hannah shared a new stormwater video for CWEP to use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8mi2F1Hfho Please
share any suggested edits with Maya and Hannah, and feel free to use for your virtual engagement! We can also use this
for the Virtual Creek Week.
• Hannah has created “Big 6” Stormwater Pollutant posts for social media, located here (copy and paste images to
reshare): https://nc-cleanwater.com/stormwater-pollution/why-is-stormwater-a-problem/
• Hannah has started doing weekly “Watershed Spotlight” social media posts featuring a watershed in each CWEP
jurisdiction, starting with those that she was not able to reach in-person due to COVID. Be on the lookout for an email
from her, as she will reach out to the CWEP representative for input prior to posting!
• Hannah ran a stormwater art contest during August-September, advertised via Facebook and listservs. Had a hard time
getting participation; had best luck reaching out to specific teachers, who had multiple students submit. See winners on
CWEP’s Facebook, soon to be featured on website as well
Website Updates
• Per your requests at previous meetings, the CWEP website now has a page with links to local government pages for
stormwater, yard waste and household hazardous waste disposal. Please email Hannah if any changes are needed!
• Hannah has also uploaded virtual storytimes to the website and has shared these with all librarians who she had
scheduled with and had to cancel due to COVID. She has focused outreach on libraries rather than schools due
to the ongoing burden teachers face with balancing remote, in-person or hybrid learning in different jurisdictions,
and prohibitions on guest speakers in some.
Programming Updates
3

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Hannah can be available for (physically distanced) in-person education in your jurisdiction if/when needed. She
will do her first in-person program since March in partnership with Kinston Public Library and housing authority. The
program will be an outdoor stormwater scavenger hunt capped at no more than 10 people, all wearing masks and
following appropriate distancing guidelines
• Hannah continues to be available for any virtual programs--reach out to her with any specific events run by
schools, libraries or elsewhere!

Radio One of Raleigh Proposal
• Ron Philips of Radio One originally reached out to Maya in summer 2020 about advertising with CWEP
• This sounds like an effective way to reallocate funds that would normally go to winter cinema advertising, which
no longer seems safe/advisable in winter 2020

• Ron presented a radio advertising proposal for winter 2020 (mid-December to early January 2021):
• Objectives for partnering: Help CWEP deliver stormwater education messaging to Radio One’s primary market of
African American listeners in the Triangle and surrounding areas
o See slide deck for demographic information about Radio One’s station listeners including overall
breakdown as well as breakdown for each station
• Stations cover Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Orange, and Wake, with weaker range extending into Harnett, Wayne,
Nash and Cumberland Counties (exact coverage varies slightly by radio station.)
• CWEP ads would run on FOXY, K97.5, the Light 103.9, which span a range of age demographics and all have
>60% African American listeners
• Potential to do a back-and-forth with one of the radio personalities
• Radio One could also post for CWEP on their social media platforms to drive traffic to CWEP social media pages
• Social media: Radio One can do one post per week on their social media (4 posts on each station; 12 total)
• Instagram on K97 (to reach younger listeners)
• Facebook on Foxy and the Light
• Radio One could also stream radio ads on phones with link the CWEP website
• Radio One also does community engagement events including college tour, awards event, women’s empowerment
(spring)- reaches 15,000 individuals
• Possibility for CWEP to table or provide a program during the virtual version of this event in 2021 (connect mass
media and direct education)
• Proposal presented was for $14,709 including social media. Maya reiterated that CWEP could only contract for < =
11,900 (budget for winter cinema.) Ron said proposal could be paired down by shortening campaign time or not including
social media.
• Consensus that CWEP should retain social media, reduce campaign time
• A 3-week Radio One campaign would still total <2 million gross impressions, or almost 4x as much as typical winter
cinema campaigns

Discussion
• Concerns about radio being spotty down near Fayetteville (Shauna) and Spring Lake/ Cumberland County (Deanna)-
can we clarify range for each station?
• Maya: It may be difficult to serve all our local governments exactly the same with a radio proposal unless we
pare down this proposal and find an additional vendor who can provide service in areas further outside the
Triangle. This was my only concern with this proposal.
4

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Shauna: Radio is going to be different than TV spots- harder to reach everyone equally. If the radio proposal is
the best one for the group, then I am good with it.
o Maya: Radio One’s social media and streaming online radio are also accessible by all, independent of
geographic area

MOUs for MS4 / NSW Communities
• Maya has been sitting in on the new Neuse/ Tar Pamlico stormwater rules workgroups to learn more about changes that
impact our direct education/ outreach reporting
• It has come up that it would be helpful for CWEP to more concretely document the services we provide in some
kind of MOU or service agreement, which would:
o Help CWEP be more accountable to local governments
o Help local governments better point out to auditors what CWEP does for them, or
o Help local governments setting up new Model Programs under new Neuse/Tar-Pamlico Stormwater Rules
• Stormwater SMART local governments have found it useful for Danica to draft an MOU template that states the
services SMART provides; CWEP has created a draft based on this template which will be sent to all Partners
o Probably makes the most sense for MOUs to follow the fiscal year
• Danica: MS4 auditors want to see documentation that each partner be actively engaged in the collaborative; if the
permittee has not been engaged then it can reflect negatively in the auditing process.
• Not everyone has an MS4 permit and not anyone will have the same auditors as SMART MS4 communities.
However, NSW and MS4 staff are coordinating reporting requirements so CWEP wants to provide any useful
documentation.
• Trish D’Arconte, NCDEQ: SWMPs should be updated every year with any changes or revisions to the outreach and
education plan

Discussion
• Sammy: What documentation is needed to show evidence of participation?
• Danica: Service agreement-NCDEQ needs to see the specific bulleted objectives that the collaborative plans to
fulfill, and what responsibility is on the partner
• Sammy: What concerns have come up in the audits?
• Danica: Audits are more of a concern for an MS4 permittee that did not do any of their own education/outreach
efforts—left it all to the collaborative and is scrounging for numbers in their audit. Attending CWEP meetings shows
active participation in CWEP.
• Jennifer: The annual report shows attendance at meetings which can be helpful
• Maya: The goal of MOUs/service agreements is to proactively help you outline what CWEP does and what you do to
meet requirements of MS4/ Neuse or Tar-Pamlico rules for education and outreach
• Deana: I think that's an excellent document for the files.
• Trish: What are the MCM numbers based on? We want the agreement to have the same format and structure as
the annual report for the MS4 permit or SWMP document.
• Maya: They are based on Danica’s template / the Draft Phase II MS4 Permit Template. Realize the
numbering might not work especially for the non-MS4s. We can tweak to reflect specific requirements!
• Shauna: We can incorporate this into our GSA. We should compare this against our Phase I permit

• Carmela: This document will be very helpful
• Allison Weakley: Agreed—good to formalize a service agreement

5

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
Action Items, Next Steps
Mass Media/Admin:
• Maya will work with Radio One to implement a marketing proposal that costs no more than $11,900 (budgeted total for
winter cinema) while retaining Radio One’s social media posts, as these are independent of geography and could
increase CWEP’s social media reach for all Partners.
• Maya will send out draft MOU template to all Partners and DWR staff.
• Reminder to please pay any outstanding invoices
Direct Education
• All Partners, please reach out to Hannah with any virtual or socially distant in-person education needs, and be on the
lookout for an email from her about featuring your community’s Watershed Spotlight on social media!
• All Partners check out website updates and use/enjoy all new content linked above (new stormwater video, Big 6
Stormwater Pollutant social media posts, virtual storytimes) and check back periodically as content updates are ongoing!

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
FY21 Q3 STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
February 9, 2020
10:30am to 12:00pm
Location: Remote – Microsoft Teams
Attendees
Jaclyn Stannard, Town of Garner
Sammy Bauer, Town of Chapel Hill
Elizabeth Barbulescue, Raleigh Water
Marie Cefalo, Town of Cary
Liz Kline, guest, Capitol Broadcasting
Shauna Haslem, City of Fayetteville
Carmela Teichman, City of Raleigh
Emily Barrett, TJCOG
Darrel Smith, city of Oxford
Fred Nelson, Town of Benson
Phil Ross, Stormwater Coordinator, Alley Williams
Carmen and King (Roxboro)
Tommy Jones, Nash County
Mackenzie Myers, Durham County
Craig Benedict, Orange County
Monica Sarna, Town of Wake Forest
Tony Victor, Town of Morrisville
Lauren Neaves, Durham County
Kelli McKelvey, guest, Spectrum Reach
Laura Smith, City of Durham
Susan Locklear, Town of Clayton
Jessica Batten, Johnston County
Amy Ratliff, City of Oxford
Amy Hayden, Town of Zebulon
Hannah Barg, Clean Water Education Partnership/
TJCOG
Maya Cough-Schulze- Clean Water Education
Partnership/ TJCOG
Jennifer Mitchell, Town of Fuquay-Varina
Ike Archer, Town of Knightdale
James Misciagno, Apex
Joe Collins, Town of Wendell
Scott Miles, Town of Rocky Mount
Soni Hawkins, City of Kinston
Danny Colavito, Town of Holly Springs
Zachary Pitts, Town of Holly Springs
Deanna Rosario, Town of Spring Lake
Michael Frangos, City of Creedmoor
Alyssa Blair, Oxford Communications/social media
Heather Fisher, Hillsborough
TJ Cawley, Town of Morrisville

General Program Updates / Discussion
Emily is the new Natural Resources and Resilience Program Manager; as the title suggests, her role is broader than
our existing Water Resources expertise, to include climate resilience and other natural resources areas. She
supervises Maya and Hannah and can provide input/ideas on CWEP as needed! We are glad to have her on board.
Maya and Hannah will continue to manage CWEP day-to-day.
FY22 projected cost shares
• Use the NC state numbers per capita (couple of years behind)
• Sent out in August, see presentation slide for numbers for your budget if needed
Mass Media Recap/Update
Recap of Radio One + looking forward to La Noticia, CBC, Spectrum
• New audio for Radio One (Hannah’s voice!)- approx. 2 million listeners, primarily African American
demographic
• Social media posts, holiday greeting and radio ad all a part of this campaign
Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• La Noticia- winter general stormwater message, March through June: yard waste focus, can feature new
pollutant July onward if we choose one then
Liz, Capitol Broadcasting
• 2021 campaign: Begins in March
o Radio was unpredictable in FY20 because less people were commuting to work, so for FY21 changed
the funds previously allocated for radio to over the top TV
o Targeting general public in Triangle and New Bern region
 TV ads in Triangle and New Bern on broadcast networks
• Triangle: March-July (5.2 million impressions, cost per thousand is $6, 341 total
spots)
• New Bern: 2 million impressions, cost per thousand is $7, total of 452 spots
 Targeted digital outreach in Triangle and New Bern, English and Spanish ads
 Over the top TV: air through streaming devices (apple TV, Roku, Amazon fire stick). This
reaches non-cable subscribers. Can target down to the zip code and based on demographics,
interest, language, etc.
Contact Liz with any other questions [e-mail]
Kelli, Spectrum Reach
• 2021 campaign: Begins end of March
o Display, online, streaming, and cable TV campaign on spanish speaking networks
 Run ads on spanish-speaking cable networks; 2,600 spots
o Targeted audience: Adults 25+, $50,000 income, people with outdoor patios
o Reaching targeted audience via zip code, anywhere people are watching TV
Contact Kelli with questions [e-mail]
• Note mass media campaigns will run concurrently with Regional Creek Week and will drive traffic to CWEP’s
RCW webpage (which we will make our homepage at that time.)
Discussion
• Marie Cefalo- Impressions are great, but I wonder how we can tell if this is making a difference. In the future,
could we experiment with a specific ad about an event (i.e. Big Sweep, etc.) and be able to measure the
increase with and without the ads? Perhaps over multiple years
• Liz- Prevention is nearly impossible to measure. Including a pledge on website, targeted call for a specific
event (I.e. clean ups, etc.) could help measure how these spots are worth it
• Maya- Evaluating results of campaigns is important – historically CWEP has shared information but have a
hard time measuring results per se.
• Kelli- This is the age old question- is it working? Great to have a call to action. Something event based is the
way to go because this is how you can see a result. Marketing for this is more intensive (more in a smaller
time frame). If you want to push a concert of festival, push it for 2 weeks leading up to the event
• Marie- Love your idea about a call to action. I challenge this group to pick up the gauntlet and champion this
type of advertising in the future.
• Maya- Regional Creek Week would be a great event to do this for starting next year.
• Liz- Could run ad campaign and event/ call to action concurrently since they have different purposes.
Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
River Network grant update
General purpose, equity focus
• Applied to $2500 mini grant
• Proposal for community engagement in Environmental Justice communities (>20% poverty rates, outside of
Triangle metro area)
o Work with partners to deepen engagement- laying groundwork and building relationships
o Potential outcome could be to offer watershed education similar to Watershed Academy (ECWA) and
Watershed Network (PEJ)
o Look to CWEP partners to help identify communities and potential partnerships with individuals/ orgs
if grant money is awarded
Membership Agreements (MOUs)
timeline, needs from all
• Working with you all to create MOUs under new Neuse and Tar Pamlico rules
• Please run agreements by LG legal counsel- do this sooner rather than later because it can take a while
o Want agreements to be in place by July 1; will send out Docusign link in March
o If you have specific language tweaks, Maya can do this by jurisdiction. Otherwise, feel free to sign on
to the general agreement.
 Laura Smith and Shauna Haslem (maybe others) will need in PDF form because they have
their own specific signing process with the city – let Maya know if this is the case for you as
well!
SWANC update: Training videos for IDDE, other MCMs
• Daniel Colavito representing Stormwater Association of North Carolina here today
• Training for phase 1 and phase 2 permitting requirements
o Video to train staff; new hires for field or facility staff
o Annual training for continued education
• Easily trackable and reportable
• Please contact Danny or visit SWANC website to get on e-mail list and/or become a member
o Goal is to advocate for stormwater programs across the state
o Unified front for municipalities and advocate for reasonable stormwater legislation/ policies
o Standard inspection forms repository (goal of state)
Contact [e-mail] for more info or input regarding SWANC, GH/PP training video or NPDES SW
Program forms, SOPs, etc.
Direct Education Updates / Discussion
Regional Creek Week updates
• Regional Creek week will occur March 13th-20th, 2021
• 8 local governments on the steering committee to plan a (virtual or socially distant) event and share
asynchronous resources all can use
• Anyone CWEP local government can join the steering committee, or share any resources
• CWEP-run event will be a spring Biothon, where participants join the group so they can report spring species.
Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Look for an email from Hannah about a Biothon training in a few weeks, and please plan to join the project!
• Deanna – add Spring Lake to RCW!
Website updates - stormwater staff profiles
• Maya and Hannah participated in internal TJCOG racial equity training, which reminded us to take advantage
of highlighting black leaders in water quality during February for Black History Month.
• This is kicking off an idea Hannah and Maya had to put together a longer-term Water Leadership Profile
Series to continue throughout the year!
• Multimedia (video, audio or written) interviews will be featured on CWEP’s blog.
• Send us your water leaders! Nonprofit staff, teachers, youth, engaged community members, as well as of
course - you local government employees!
Social media: reporting and design needs – poll / discuss
• Most people (94%) want us to tag them rather than just letting them reshare or providing posts another way.
• Regarding the types of posts you'd like to be tagged in, the vast majority (75%) said stormwater PSAs; 13%
said events. 6% each said virtual learning tools and water-related holidays.
• Due to a poll glitch, we didn't get particularly useful info from poll questions regarding whether attendees
administer your social media whether someone else at their jurisdiction was.
• The question we should have asked was: Who is the contact at your local government that administers town
stormwater social media accounts? If it varies by type of social media, please specify!
• Social media platforms jurisdictions use - There was a glitch with the poll question (didn't allow select
multiple) but from the chat it sounds like Facebook and Twitter were used more frequently than Instagram or
Youtube.
From chat- bold=most important platform for that jurisdiction
• Facebook- Morrisville, Spring Lake, Fuquay Varina, Kinston, Hillsborough, City of Durham, Cary
• Instagram-Fuquay Varina, Kinston, Cary
• Twitter- Morrisville, Spring Lake, Fuquay Varina, Kinston, Hillsborough, City of Durham, Cary
• YouTube- Kinston, City of Durham, Cary
• 100% of respondents wanted the bold color design over the muted pastel palette.
o Sammy Bauer suggested varied palettes with consistent fonts
• Member runs social media page: Chapel Hill, Spring Lake, Morrisville, Benson, Hillsborough, Fayetteville,
Kinston,
• Run by someone else- Cary (Marie can post on FB), Garner, Raleigh (Kristen Freeman), Oxford (Alyssa Blair),
Wake Forest, Benson (Tyler Douglas - [e-mail]), Wendell (Joseph Collins,
[e-mail])
• Needs approval: Durham County
• No account: Roxboro
Final thought from Liz Kline:
If anyone is looking for social media consulting, WRAL Digital Solutions puts together customized "Social Media
Playbooks" for clients. We will run paid social media ad campaigns for clients, but when it comes to organic posting/
social channel management we offer consulting (we do NOT manage social media for you, we only advise). But this
could be a good resource. www.wraldigitalsolutions.com
Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
Action items
• Please send the Membership Agreement to your legal counsel ASAP
• Let Maya know what format you need the Membership Agreement in for signature (Docusign, PDF)
• Email Hannah if you would like to join the Regional Creek Week effort
• Sign up for the spring Biothon Hannah will email about (training + quick iNaturalist account creation) – as part of
Regional Creek Week
• Fill out this google form with your social media contacts and preferences for tagging (sorry about the poll
glitches!) If you weren’t able to attend this meeting, please respond to this google form so we can help you
reach more people and track more numbers from our social media posts!
1

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
CLEAN WATER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
FY21 Q4 STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
April 13, 2020
9:30am to 11:30am
Attendees
James Misciagno, Town of Apex
Heidi Salminen, City of Creedmoor
Emily Cochran, Town of Carrboro
Tommy Jones, Nash County
Jennifer Mitchell, Town of Fuquay-Varina
Mate’a Tindal, Town of Wake Forest
Zack Pitts, Town of Holly Springs
Heather Fisher, Town of Hillsborough
Marie Cefalo, Town of Cary
Joyce Gaffney, City of Raleigh
Jaclyn Stannard, Town of Garner
Ike Archer, Town of Knightdale
Laruen Neaves, Durham County
Scott Miles, City of Rocky Mount
Deanna Rosario, Town of Spring Lake
McKenzie Myers, Durham County
Laura Smith, City of Durham
Heather Holley, Town of Carrboro
Phil Ross, City of Roxboro
TJ Cawley, Town of Morrisville
Carmela Teichman, City of Raleigh
Shauna Haslem, City of Fayetteville
Tony Victor, Town of Morrisville
Drew Blake, Chatham County
Wesley Poole, Orange County
Carrie Mitchell, Town of Wake Forest
Stephen Wensman, Town of Smithfield
Fred Nelson, Town of Benson
Michael Frangos, City of Creedmoor
Meredith Stull, Durham County

Meeting Summary
Direct Education Updates / Discussion
• Regional Creek Week occurred March 13-17, 2021. There were 10 events, 10+ participating local governments, 10
educational videos posted on CWEP’s website. Social media was a big component – CWEP alone reached 25,134
people via 10 posts; there were 92 shares and 382 engagements. (These numbers do not include partner
government reshares.)
• Participating local governments’ creek cleanups involved 251 volunteers who spent 862 hours collecting 9,363 lbs
of trash.
• The virtual event CWEP hosted was an iNaturalist Biothon which had 89 participants and 379 observations across
member communities. A Biothon shows location of species which members of the public observe via the
iNaturalist app – this Biothon was limited to native species and focused on spring aquatic and riparian species.
Many more people (100+) were making observations in our region than signed up for the project- Hannah
reached out to all of them and some joined the project! With your help, we can increase participation in any
future Biothons – this is a great way to get people excited about exploring their watershed.
• Upcoming events: Hannah now is available for socially distant in-person or virtual events. In the next week she
will be conducting a Fayetteville school visit with Shauna and a Spring Lake cleanup. Additionally, bringing
giveaways to Knightdale’s shredding event and doing a virtual Facebook live for Kinston Neuseway Nature Park
Earth Day event. She will also be doing a Morrisville virtual elementary school visit in the coming weeks.
2

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Water Leadership profiles: Please let Hannah know if you would like to recommend anyone to be interviewed and
highlighted on CWEP’s blog.
Grant Update/Next Steps
• CWEP was awarded a $2500 mini-grant from the River Network
• Goals: Learn from community members about what stormwater/environmental issues are top of mind for
them, to help us tailor the resources we provide low-income CWEP communities (> 20% poverty).
• Grant will go toward time to learn from justice leaders to make sure that our education is relevant to
everyone, and that everyone has access to it
• Steven (in the chat): It would be great if you could share who these leaders are with us
• Maya: We can do that – our intention is to work together on this!
• Email Maya/Hannah with questions or ideas
New Member Update
• Leland is a new member- welcome to the CWEP team!
• Siler City may join as well- we will find out in June.
Mass Media Update
• Broadcast PSA video on yard waste (FY21 pollutant theme of the year) and still ads via Capital Broadcasting and
Spectrum across all zip codes in CWEP partner communities
• Capital Broadcasting campaign (WRAL, WITN etc.) yielded 1.5 million total impressions via in March alone, which
is typical
• All clicks on PSAs lead to CWEP website, saw large uptick in views when the campaign started in March
• Spectrum campaign started April 6, and website views also a big uptick then
• Of the audience for Spectrum’s streaming TV platforms, over 98% viewed the full video
• See slides for more depth on how our mass media campaigns increase website traffic while campaigns are
running, and total website traffic has also increased greatly over the years
Membership Agreement (MOU) Status Update
• 27 partners have turned in their MOUs- thank you! Some of you have talked with Maya about how you are still
waiting to finalize. If you have not reached out to Maya and your signatory – please do!
• MOUs are being set up to document what CWEP provides partners annually and how partners use participation in
CWEP to help meet education requirements for stormwater permits or nutrient strategies.
5-year Plan Review
• CWEP accomplished several 5-year plan goals for FY21:
• Developed a new radio spot
• Ran a stormwater art contest
• Started a Regional Creek Week
• Secured an education grant
• Gained a new partner
• Additional accomplishments not included in original FY21 plan (pivot due to COVID):
• Increased social media presence
3

Triangle J Mission Statement
To serve as an intergovernmental organization for local elected officials
that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens.
• Ran new virtual events
• Increased outreach to underserved communities
• Potential priorities to consider for FY22:
• Possible topics: in past we have used one of the ‘big 6 stormwater pollutants’ profiled in our cartoon videos
as our ‘pollutant theme of the year.’ Alternatively, we could focus on a pollutant source or audience type.
Consider the below and bring your ideas to next meeting:
o Sediment and actions residents can take in their yards (including buffers)
o Restaurant or auto services (business) outreach
 Deanna: This would be helpful; we all have to do this (several others agreed)
• Could contract to have all :30 pollutant-specific videos edited to :15 (PTRC has found this increases the number
of people who view to the end - is this something we want to do?)
• FY21 goals to carry into FY22
• Recruit additional partners, potentially as part of outreach for MS4 NPDES SWMP process and new Neuse/Tar-
Pamlico Nutrient Strategy process
• Carry forward the Regional Creek Week
• Continue engagement/outreach with underserved populations
FY21 Projected Budget and FY22 Proposed Budget
• Maya gave a brief overview of FY21 budget to date. We are likely to have a bit higher fund balance than
expected, largely due to shifting more toward virtual education due to COVID
• Members decided to move forward with the proposed FY22 budget scenario. This will include a bit less of CWEP
total revenue allocated towards staff time than in FY21, including Maya’s continued administration/program
oversight, an AmeriCorps, and a smaller part-time contract with Hannah to cover the summer staff gap and train
the AmeriCorps. (As time allows, Hannah can also continue to create educational materials/social media posts
and guide River Network outreach - items that require more training/background knowledge.) This can be
accomplished with similar use of fund balance as previous years.
• Laura asked whether it would be possible to bring Hannah on full-time. Maya shared that because AmeriCorps is
so affordable, bringing Hannah on full-time with benefits instead would require using much of the fund balance
(not sustainable) or cutting some mass media (not desirable). Partners agreed that a smaller contract with
Hannah in FY22 would strike the balance between keeping direct education sustainable while maintaining the
same level of service on mass media and not using much of fund balance.
Action Items/Next Steps
• Please follow up with Maya and with your signatories if you have not completed signing of your CWEP
membership agreement.
• Want to share your local government’s particular education/outreach resource, tool or activity at the July
meeting? Email Maya!
• Contact Hannah and Maya with ideas or contacts doing environmental justice work who you think might have
concerns regarding stormwater, flooding, etc.