ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Efforts to help Western North Carolina communities repair drinking water and wastewater systems damaged by Hurricane Helene have earned the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality national recognition.

The work included helping communities such as Canton navigate funding and repairs after the storm while speeding up a process DEQ said would normally take more than a year.

“What we saw and what I saw in Canton, what this region saw, was DEQ standing in the trenches, helping us in every way, saying, ‘You matter, we have your back, and we’re not going away,’” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said in a video highlighting the recovery work.

Canton is among the Western North Carolina communities receiving money through the effort. DEQ said earlier this year that the town had received $24.5 million for Helene-related water infrastructure projects, including work on its wastewater treatment plant and an interconnection project.

Across storm-damaged areas, DEQ said its Division of Water Infrastructure and Division of Water Resources worked directly with local governments to simplify applications for grants and loans needed to repair damaged systems and make them more resilient.

The Division of Water Infrastructure ultimately awarded $861 million for 217 drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects related to Helene recovery, according to DEQ.

But significant needs remain. DEQ said in May that about $655 million in critical Helene-related water infrastructure needs remained unfunded.

After Helene, the Division of Water Infrastructure also repurposed an emergency loan program to administer $75 million in bridge loans and $7 million in technical assistance grants provided by the General Assembly. Staff also trained local officials on how to apply for the money.

DEQ said the changes allowed work that would typically take more than a year to be completed within several months.

The Environmental Council of States recognized that response with a 2026 State Innovation Award during its fall meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The award recognized the work of DEQ’s Division of Water Infrastructure and Division of Water Resources.

“This award from the Environmental Council of States recognizes DEQ’s truly innovative approaches to Helene recovery,” DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson said in a statement. “While DEQ has worked hard to award more than $1 billion overall for Helene recovery, in many ways the work is just beginning.”

North Carolina was one of two winners in the environmental programs category, along with New Jersey.

Fourteen states submitted videos for consideration in two categories — environmental programs and agency management, dashboards and permitting. Attendees at the annual meeting voted on the entries.

The Environmental Council of States is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders. North Carolina last received one of the organization’s innovation awards in 2014.