Water Issues
North Carolina boasts over 37,800 miles of rivers and streams, split among 17 river basins. The water in these basins serves many uses: drinking water, swimming, fishing, wildlife, and, in the coastal estuaries, shellfishing. Many of our waters, however, suffer from pollution. Agriculture and polluted runoff from developed areas account for almost half of the 4,500 river and shoreline miles in the state that are 'impaired,' too polluted to support their assigned uses.
The federal Clean Water Act and state laws are supposed to work in tandem to protect our waters, and they have served well to protect our waters from "point sources" of pollution, such as factories and water treatment plants. Remaining challenges include controlling the pollution washed into our rivers from the streets and sidewalks of our cities, and limiting the flow of nutrients, sediment, and pesticides off agricultural fields. In the Neuse, Tar-Pam, and part of the Catawba river basins, buffer rules protect streamside trees and shrubs that absorb pollutants and keep sediment out of our rivers. Other basins lack buffer rules, and are threatened by development and poor land use. On the bright side, North Carolina's laws afford strong statewide protection to swamps, bogs, and other wetlands, which act as natural pollution filters and provide vital habitat for fish and wildlife.
More on Water Issues
Water Resources and Drought (2008 campaign)
