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Catawba River basin

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The Catawba river basin is 3,305 square miles. It is the eighth largest river system in North Carolina

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https://sciencing.com/catawba-river-basin-north-carolina-7230896.html

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The Catawba River basin is located in the southwestern part of the state of North Carolina. According to North Carolina State University, it takes up 3,305 square miles, or about 8.1 percent of the state, and is the eighth largest river system in North Carolina. In fact, it contains more than 3,000 miles of streams. The historically important river continues to make history in modern society.

The Catawba River basin has served a significant role in the North Carolina region's history from pre-colonial times to the present, according to the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation. Nation Ford was an important river crossing on a major north-south trading path that the Catawba Indians controlled. A canal system in the 19th century made the Catawba River navigable, and dams along the Catawba-Wateree River in the 20th century offered the energy and water that area industries and a growing population required. The basin remains one of the fastest growing regions of the United States.

The Catawba River begins on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to the North Carolina Office of Environmental Education. The river's headwaters start in the mountains and are considered trout waters that generally have good quality. A headwater stream known as the Linville River actually is one of only four rivers in North Carolina that the General Assembly has labeled a scenic river. The stream's main channel also is enveloped by multiple hydropower reservoirs that begin at Lake James and go to Lake Wylie. Lake James is in the mountains, and Lake Wylie is near the North Carolina-South Carolina border. These reservoirs are water resources and also are used for recreational purposes. In fact, Lake Wylie has been named a South Carolina scenic river as well. The Catawba River contains the most major dams of any North Carolina river.

The Catawba River basin actually takes up part or all of 14 counties. These counties include Wilkes, Alexander, Watauga, Avery, Union, Burke, Mecklenburg, Caldwell, McDowell, Catawba, Lincoln, Cleveland, Iredell and Gaston. In fact, the river basin is the second most densely populated region in the state, as more than one million people reside there. Charlotte, the largest municipality in the state, contains more than half of the basin's population.

About 16 percent of the Catawba River basin actually is polluted by bad runoff, according to North Carolina State University Water Quality Programs. This runoff in downstream areas arrives from construction, stormwater and agricultural and timbering activities. The main cause of the problem is sediment, but the problem also can be linked to heavy metals, fecal coliform and nutrients from urban areas and wastewater treatment plants. This is especially troubling as an expanding population relies on the river and as drought has resulted in water shortages. In fact, the environmental group American Rivers in 2008 named the Catawba-Wateree River the most endangered river in the nation.

In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that four of the 44 highest hazard coal ash ponds in the nation were on the Catawba River on reservoirs used for drinking water. Citizens have created organizations such as the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation to address these issues. Projects being conducted in the Catawba River basin include monitoring water quality from agricultural acts and establishing practices to protect the water.

The Catawba River basins contains many distinctive animals such as a globally rare dragonfly called Edmund's snaketail. The basin also contains the federally endangered Carolina heelsplitter, a freshwater mussel. Like all of these types of mussels, the heelsplitter is sensitive to water quality changes.

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Facts About the Catawba River Basin in North Carolina

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The Catawba River basin is located in the southwestern part of the state of North Carolina. According to North Carolina State University, it takes up 3,305 square miles, or about 8.1 percent of the state, and is the eighth largest river system in North Carolina.

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What is the Catawba river basin is used for 

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What is the Catawba river basin is used for 

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The Catawba river basin is use for drinking water and Electricity generation

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The Catawba is located in western of North Carolina in mountains and piedmont ecoregions

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https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Conserving/documents/2015WildlifeActionPlan/Section-4-5-6-Catawba-River-basin-1st-draft.pdf

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The Catawba region is the piedmont

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3 major towns in the Catawba river basin.

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3 major towns in the Catawba river basin.

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Three major town near Catawba river basin are Morganton, Mooresville, and Gastonia

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Reprinted with permission from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website.
The three landforms of North Carolina make up the three major geographic regions of the state: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Mountains. The Coastal Plain Region is usually divided into two sub regions: the Outer Coastal Plain, commonly referred to as the Tidewater; and the Inner Coastal, which is less impacted by the effects of the ocean as it is located further inward.

North Carolina regions by county
View the list of North Carolina counties.
North Carolina physical regions

1 January 2012

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Our State Geography in a Snap: Three Regions Overview

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Reprinted with permission from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website. The three landforms of North Carolina make up the three major geographic regions of the state: the Coastal Plain , the Piedmont , and the Mountains .

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Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Charlotte, NC, advocating to protect the Catawba-Wateree River Basin’s lakes, rivers & streams.

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Name 3 rivers that flow into the Catawba river basin.

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Name 3 rivers that flow into the Catawba river basin.

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Three river that flow into Catawba is Johns, South Fork Catawba, and Henry Fork

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Plants and animals That lives around the Catawba river basin 

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Plants and animals That lives around the Catawba river basin 

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Animals that live near the Catawba river basin such as a Edmund snaketail and Carolina heelsplitter

Plants live near the Catawba river basin is Hydrilla and Kudzu these plants kill other plants and make soil loose so a landslide while a occur

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The Catawba River Basin A Project By Maxwell Pedersen and Jack Kane What is the Catawba River Basin? The Catawba River Basin is the eighth largest river system in the state. It encompasses 3,305 square miles of southwestern North Carolina. This river basin contains 3,042 miles of

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a major ecological issue/problem affecting the Catawba river basin

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a major ecological issue/problem affecting the Catawba river basin

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The Catawba river basin is Endangered because of coal ash and a byproduct of power generation

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Spanning two states and more than 200 miles, the Catawba is more a linked series of reservoirs than a genuine river anymore.

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Possible solutions to the ecological issue/problem of the Catawba River basin 

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Possible solutions to the ecological issue/problem of the Catawba River basin 

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The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality they plan on moving the pollution from Catawba River Basin to a landline or recycle it

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the conservation actions necessary to protect the Catawba river basin

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the conservation actions necessary to protect the Catawba river basin

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They are going to patrol the waterways and report violations of the Catawba River basin

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Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Charlotte, NC, advocating to protect the Catawba-Wateree River Basin’s lakes, rivers & streams.