1.0   Introduction

Michael A. Mallin
Center for Marine Science
University of North Carolina at Wilmington

        The Lower Cape Fear River Program is a unique science and education program that has a mission to develop an understanding of processes that control and influence the ecology of the Cape Fear River, and to provide a mechanism for information exchange and public education.  This Program provides a forum for dialogue among the various Cape Fear River user groups and encourages interaction among them.  Overall policy is set by an Advisory Board consisting of representatives from citizen’s groups, local government, industries, academia, the business community, and regulatory agencies.  This report represents the scientific conclusions of the UNCW researchers participating in this Program, and does not necessarily reflect opinions of all other Program participants.  This report focuses on the period July 2001 through June 2002.

        The scientific basis of the Program consists of the implementation of an ongoing comprehensive physical, chemical, and biological monitoring program.  Another part of the mission is to develop and maintain a data base on the Cape Fear basin and make use of this data to develop management plans.  Using this monitoring data as a framework, the Program goals also include focused scientific projects and investigation of pollution episodes.  The scientific aspects of the Program are carried out by investigators from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Center for Marine Science.  The monitoring program was developed by the Lower Cape Fear River Program Technical Committee, which consists of representatives from UNCW, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, The NC Division of Marine Fisheries, the US Army Corps of Engineers, technical representatives from streamside industries, the City of Wilmington Wastewater Treatment Plants, Cape Fear Community College, Cape Fear River Watch, the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, the US Geological Survey, forestry and agriculture organizations, and others.  This integrated and cooperative program was the first of its kind in North Carolina.

        Broad-scale monthly water quality sampling at 16 stations in the estuary and lower river system began in June 1995 (directed by Dr. Michael Mallin).  Sampling was increased to 34 stations in February of 1996, and 35 stations in February 1998.  The Lower Cape Fear River Program added another component concerned with studying the benthic macrofauna of the system in 1996.  This component is directed by Dr. Martin Posey of the UNCW Biology Department and includes the benefit of additional data collected by the Benthic Ecology Laboratory under Sea Grant and NSF sponsored projects in the Cape Fear Estuary.  The third major biotic component (added in January 1996) was an extensive fisheries program directed by Dr. Mary Moser of the UNCW Center for Marine Science Research, with subsequent (1999) overseeing by Mr. Michael Williams and Dr. Thomas Lankford of UNCW-CMS.  This program involved cooperative sampling with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.  The fisheries program ended in December 1999, but was renewed with additional funds from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation from spring – winter 2000, and has been operational since that period. 

1.1. Site Description

        The mainstem of the Cape Fear River is formed by the merging of the Haw and the Deep Rivers in Chatham County in the North Carolina Piedmont.  However, its drainage basin reaches as far upstream as the Greensboro area (Fig. 1.1).  The mainstem of the river has been altered by several dams and water control structures.  In the coastal plain the river is joined by two major tributaries, the Black and the Northeast Cape Fear Rivers (Fig. 1.1).  These blackwater streams drain extensive riverine swamp forests and add organic color to the mainstem.  The watershed is the most heavily industrialized in North Carolina, and contains 280 permitted wastewater discharges (NCDENR 2000) and approximately 1.5 million people residing in the basin.  Approximately 24% of the land use in the watershed is devoted to agriculture and livestock production (NCDENR 2000), particularly swine and poultry operations.  Thus, the watershed receives considerable point and non-point source loading of pollutants.

        Water quality is monitored by boat at ten stations in the Cape Fear Estuary (from Navassa to Southport) and one station in the Northeast Cape Fear Estuary (Table 1.1; Fig. 1.1).  Riverine stations sampled by boat include NC11, AC, DP, IC, and BBT (Table 1.1; Fig. 1.1).  NC11 is located upstream of any major point source discharges in the lower river and estuary system, and is considered to be representative of water quality entering the lower system.  BBT is located on the Black River between Thoroughfare and the mainstem Cape Fear, and is influenced by both rivers.  We consider B210 and NCF117 to represent water quality entering the lower Black and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers, respectively.  Data has also been collected at stream and river stations throughout the Cape Fear, Northeast Cape Fear, and Black River watersheds (Table 1.1; Fig. 1.1).  Data collection at a station in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was initiated in February 1998 to obtain water quality information near the Southport Wastewater Treatment Plant discharge.

        The LCFRP has a website that contains maps and an extensive amount of past water quality, benthos, and fisheries data gathered by the Program available at: www.uncwil.edu/cmsr/aquaticecology/lcfrp/

        This report contains four sections assessing LCFRP data.  Section 2 presents an overview of physical, chemical, and biological water quality data from the 35 individual stations, and provides tables of raw data as well as figures showing spatial or temporal trends.  Section 3 is a new approach, in which we analyze our data by sub-basin, following NC DWQ delineations.  We compare our results with DWQ's 2000 Basinwide Plan, and make use support assessments based on legal standards for dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll a, metals, and fecal coliform bacterial abundance.  We also utilize other relevant parameters such as nutrient load to aid in these assessments.  This section is designed so that residents of a particular sub-basin can see what the water quality is like in his or her area based on LCFRP data collections.

        Section 4 provides an analysis of the benthic community from four sites sampled for several years.  These organisms include commercially used shellfish as well as other ecologically important organisms including insect larvae, worms, and young stages of finfish and shellfish.  In Sections 5 we present an assessment of the fish community of the Lower Cape Fear basin, as captured and analyzed by three different methods.

1.2. References Cited

NCDENR. 2000. Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, Water Quality Section, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1617.

Table 1.1.  Description of sampling locations in the Cape Fear Watershed, 2000-2001, including UNCW designation and NCDWQ map number.
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UNCW St.      DWQ No.                               Location
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High order river and estuary stations

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Tributary stations collected from land
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Figure 1.1

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