3.0 Use Support by
Subbasin in the
Lower Cape Fear River System
Heather
A. Wells, Michael A. Mallin, and James F. Merritt
Center for Marine Science
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
3.0 Use Support
Comparison by Subbasins
A compilation and comparison using information from
the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (NCDENR),
Division of Water Quality (DWQ) Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan,
July 2000, and the research conducted by UNC-Wilmington, Center for Marine
Science (CMS), Lower Cape Fear River Program (LCFRP) for July 2002 - June 2003.
3.1
Introduction
The NC Division of Water
Quality prepares a basinwide water quality plan for each of the seventeen major
river basins in the state every five years.
The basinwide approach is a nonregulatory watershed-based approach to
restoring and protecting the quality of North Carolina’s surface waters.
The first basinwide plan for the Cape Fear River was completed in 1996,
and the 2000 report is the first of the five-year interval updates.
The goals of the basinwide program are to:
-
identify water
quality problems and restore full use to impaired waters;
-
identify and
protect high value resource waters;
-
protect
unimpaired waters while allowing for reasonable economic growth;
-
develop
appropriate management strategies to protect and restore water quality;
-
assure equitable
distribution of waste assimilative capacity for dischargers; and
-
improve public
awareness and involvement in the management of the state’s surface waters.
(NCDENR, DWQ Cape Fear
River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, July 2000)
The
NCDENR has divided the Cape Fear River Basin into three areas: an upper basin,
middle basin, and lower basin. The
watershed is divided into 6 major hydrological areas by the US Geological Survey
(USGS). Each of these hydrologic
areas is further divided into subbasins by DWQ. There are 24 subbasins within the Cape Fear River basin, each
denoted by 6-digit numbers (03-06-01 to 03-06-24). (NCDENR, DWQ Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan,
July 2000)
The
Division of Water Quality (DWQ) conducts an assessment and determines water
classification according to their best-intended uses. Use support ratings are established such as fully supporting
(FS) if standard is exceeded in < 10% of measurements, partially supporting
(PS) if standard is exceeded in 11-25% of measurements, or non supporting (NS)
if standard is exceeded in > 25% of measurements. DWQ also utilizes other
criteria, such as the benthic community composition and fisheries populations.
(NCDENR, DWQ Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, July 2000)
UNCW
researchers have adopted a rating system that incorporates some of the
guidelines used by DWQ. Water quality ratings are as follows for the parameters that
have North Carolina State Standards (dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a,
fecal coliform bacteria, and turbidity): good
quality (G) if standard is exceeded in < 10% of measurements, fair quality
(F) if standard is exceeded in 11-25% of measurements, or poor quality (P) if
standard is exceeded in > 25% of measurements. UNCW also rates stations where nutrient concentrations exceed
levels noted to be problematic in the scientific literature.
Some of the subbasins have waters that are on the state’s year 2000 303(d) list. Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires states to develop a list of waters not meeting water quality standards or which have impaired uses. Waters may be excluded from the list if existing control strategies for point and nonpoint source pollution will achieve the standards or uses. Listed waters must be prioritized, and a management stategy or total maximum daily load (TMDL) must be developed for all listed waters. (NCDENR, DWQ Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, July 2000).
The
ambient data was taken by DWQ from September 1993 to August 1998 for the July
2000 Basinwide Report. The next
data window will be from September 1998 to August 2003 and the basinwide plan
will be published in 2005. (NCDENR,
DWQ Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, July 2000)
For
more information consult the NC Division of Water Quality Basinwide Planning
Website: http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide
The 35 stations monitored
by UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science (CMS), for the Lower Cape Fear
River Program (LCFRP) fall into the middle and lower basins designated by the
NCDENR. The stations are in the
following subbasins:
03-06-16
(middle)
BRN, HAM,
NC11
03-06-17
(lower)
LVC,
AC, DP, IC, NAV, HB, BRR, M61,
M54,
M42, M35, M23, M18, SPD
03-06-18
(middle)
SR
03-06-19
(middle)
LCO, GCO,
6RC
03-06-20
(middle)
COL, B210,
BBT
03-06-21
(lower)
N403
03-06-22
(lower)
PB,
GS, SAR, LRC, ROC
03-06-23
(lower)
ANC,
BCRR, BC117, NCF117, NCF6
Summary
of all Subbasins
3.2 Methods
Each
subbasin will be addressed separately; with a description and map with the Lower
Cape Fear River Program (LCFRP) stations designated, and municipalities noted.
This will be followed by a summary of the information published by NCDENR
and DWQ in the Cape Fear River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, July 2000.
UNCW results and comments for the 2002-2003 monitoring period will
follow, with graphical representation when chronic problems have been observed.
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