Catawba River Basin Water Quality Program. The 7,860 square kilometer Catawba River basin in North Carolina extends from the mountains of the Blue Ridge province to the low rolling terrain of the Piedmont. In South Carolina, the Catawba River becomes the Wateree River at Wateree Dam, where the basin drainage area is 12,400 square kilometers. Ten of the 11 reservoirs on the mainstem of the river were completed before 1930. Increased stresses are being placed on the streams and reservoirs of the Catawba basin.
Water quality is also an increasingly sensitive interstate issue.
Most of the point and nonpoint source drainage from Charlotte enters the Catawba River in South Carolina. Moreover, a regional wastewater treatment facility, which would primarily treat North Carolina wastewater, has been proposed for siting in South Carolina. In addition, the Charlotte-Rock Hill metropolitan area continues to grow and the need for a reliable, clean water supply is critical to maintaining economic health. Both reservoir and river flow and transport models are being developed to address a wide array of site-specific issues in the basin. Relicensing by FERC of 11 hydropower facilities on the Catawba River in the next 10 years will result in continued interest in ecological issues in the basin.