Background

        During the period 1993 to 1996, Mason Inlet, which separates Figure Eight Island and Shell Island, underwent a period of active southerly migration.  This migration took the inlet all the way to the base of the Shell Island Resort, where a geotextile revetment and sand bags were employed as a temporary measure to protect the resort and other nearby residences.  Following lengthy negotiations among stakeholders and Federal and State regulatory groups, a long-term solution to the inlet migration was agreed upon.  This involved dredging a new inlet 2,500 feet to the north of the old inlet at Shell Island, and dredging Mason Creek from Banks Channel to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

        As a result of an agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the North Carolina Division of Water Quality regarding a permit for construction work involved with the relocation of Mason Inlet, New Hanover County was expected to conduct a program to analyze water quality before and after dredging activities and channel relocation.  The Aquatic Ecology Laboratory of the Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), was contracted to perform the water quality assessment.  However, UNCW was not brought into the project until mid-December 2001, leaving limited time to perform pre-project data collection.  Thus, UNCW was able to sample twice in late December 2001 and once in January 2002 before dredging operations curtailed further pre-project sampling. 

        The following report analyzes water quality in the Mason Inlet vicinity from the period December 2001 through February 2003, before and after moving of the inlet.  UNCW has also been monitoring the nearby tidal creek system since 1993 (Mallin et al. 2000a).  Thus, we provide additional information on fecal coliform bacterial abundance in Howe Creek during that same period to assess the possibility of water quality improvement from increased water flows as a result of relocation of the inlet.