A River At Risk
Starting in the early autumn months of 2007 the Catawba basin, along with large swaths of the Southern United States, began to feel the effects of an extreme drought. On October 15, 2007, the Morganton News Herald reported that North Carolina Governor Mike Easley described the drought as "the worst in recorded history".
On January 29, 2008, Duke Energy, the utility responsible for managing the Catawba River, extended its estimated time frame for Stage 4 water restrictions to August. The extension was possible because of conservation measures and the 6 inches of rain the basin received in December. However, area leaders converged on Valdese to hear presentations from Representatives of the N.C. Rural Center, N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Appalachian Regional Commission about grants and loans that are available to help pay for solutions to the drought.
In April 2008 the environmental group American Rivers named the Catawba-Wateree River "the most endangered river in America." The group's reasons cited for the river's condition are the drought, the presence of 11 hydroelectric dams, global warming, and unchecked development along its banks.
On June 11, 2008, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford signed legislation denoting the Catawba as a state scenic river. The designation carries no land-use restrictions, but it does allow the state to convene an advisory group to address river-related concerns.
On June 29, 2009, the EPA announced that four of the top 44 "High Hazard Ash Ponds" in the United States are on the Catawba River. Two ash ponds are adjacent to and discharge into Mountain Island Lake, and the EPA High Hazard list also includes ash ponds on Lake Wylie and Lake Norman.
The Catawba is one of only four left in the southeast with significant populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the Shoals spider-lily. It has one large population left at Landsford Canal State Park.
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