CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. — North Carolina is no stranger to flooding, from the western mountains to the eastern coast.

Every year, communities around the state have to spend tax dollars on flood recovery.

With the new state budget, however, two conservationists are hopeful for the future of floods in the state, and lessening the impact they could have.

The new state budget allots almost $1 billion for flood mitigation and disaster relief.

Chris Canfield and Bill Holman have worked in conservation and flood mitigation for decades. 

“We’ve got to get smarter about how we grow and how we keep people safe and their property out of harm's way,” Holman said.

Chris Canfield, left, and Bill Holman, who have decades of experience in conservation and flood mitigation, say the state's budget will help prevent flooding in North Carolina.

Both say this investment by the state shows we are on the right path.

It’s the most they’ve seen North Carolina put toward mitigation and prevention, rather than just recovery.

“It is a significant down payment, but it’s just a down payment on a long-term investment that North Carolina’s going to have to make to handle the challenges ahead,” Canfield said.

The two point to the Lower Haw River State Natural Area as an example of mitigation success.

Around 1,000 acres along the Haw River are protected from development and able to absorb the impacts of floods.

“The river’s low now, but when the river’s up at 17 feet, there’s room for the river to spread out and not harm property or endanger people’s lives,” Holman said.

“A tree can absorb 100 gallons of water in a day, 10,000 gallons over its life. When you multiply that by all these trees and you get the realization that water can be held and then released slowly. When you put cement all over everything, the water has nowhere to go and it rushes all at once in places you don’t want it,” Canfield added.

Even those who don’t live in flood-prone areas are still paying for recovery efforts, both men say.

So this prevention work will improve their neighbors' lives and their own wallets in the future.

“For every dollar you invest in this kind of prevention, you save six dollars in repair costs and damages that come out of the tax base,” Canfield said.