Progress Energy recently contributed nearly $318,000 to the Pigeon River Fund, bringing the company’s overall support for the water quality fund to about $3.1 million.

The Pigeon River Fund was created in 1995 as part of the license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for Progress Energy’s Walters Hydroelectric Plant on the Pigeon River.

The fund supports water pollution prevention and cleanup and conservation education programs in Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties. Progress Energy started the fund with a $1 million contribution in 1995 and supplements it through annual contributions.

Robert Sipes, vice president of Progress Energy’s Western Region, presented the check at the Pigeon River Fund’s board meeting in May.

“Progress Energy is proud of its efforts to protect and enhance Western North Carolina’s water resources,” Sipes said. “We are very pleased with the Pigeon River Fund’s accomplishments over the past 10 years, and we look forward to continuing our partnership in the future.”

The fund has been used for projects including reintroducing and sustaining two native minnow species — the saffron shiner and the mirror shiner — to the 25-mile reach of the upper Pigeon River between Canton and the Walters Reservoir in Haywood County. With a focus on public education and involvement, the fund also contributes to the construction of nature trails, removal of litter and debris from streams, restoration and stabilization of stream banks, establishment of vegetative buffers and greenways, and the purchase of educational materials and exhibits.