Catawba-Wateree Basin, NC/SC

From the roaring cascades of Linville Gorge to the western suburbs of greater Charlotte, the Catawba River winds from its headwaters in the Blue Ridge across the Piedmont, providing a source of recreation, drinking water, and electrical power for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians along the way. It continues to share its abundance in South Carolina, where it becomes the Wateree and follows a course that includes the unspoiled natural areas along the recently established Wateree River Blue Trail.

The Catawba-Wateree has been shaped and reshaped by natural and human forces for centuries. But new threats have arisen that could severely limit the river’s ability to meet the needs of the wildlife and people who depend on it. A prime example is a deal Duke Energy is attempting to strike with South Carolina regulators, in which the state would accept a donation of cash and land as compensation for maintaining harmfully low flows from the company’s hydroelectric dams. 

Meanwhile, North Carolina and South Carolina are battling it out in the U.S. Supreme Court over out-of-basin transfers and how they affect the availability of water downstream. Although legislation has been proposed that could provide a coherent planning and permitting process for allocating water from the Catawba-Wateree and other river basins in North Carolina, the measure has languished in the face of opposition from several large-quantity users. All of these factors point to scenarios that could result in serious disruptions of the river’s natural systems and water levels.

SELC is defending the river on multiple fronts. Through our work in South Carolina regulatory proceedings, we have kept the Duke hydropower proposal in check. Thanks to our legal action, two North Carolina cities have agreed to significantly scale back water transfers from the Catawba in times of drought and to implement stringent water conservation measures.  At the same time, we are promoting sound water management policies that reduce the need for such water diversions and that provide better protection for the Catawba-Wateree and all the great rivers in the Carolinas. To learn more, get the latest news on this issue, or sign up for up for updates, please click here.