Background
More than 20% of states population, 1.47 million people, reside in 27
counties within the Cape Fear River Basin watershed. Growth is expected to accelerate in
the coming decades. The Wilmington Morning Star reported that more than 1,000
people per week are predicted to move into the basin at the beginning of the next century.
By 2010 the population will be more than 2.5 million. This is three times the growth rate
from 1980 to 1990.
While the States rivers
and their health has been much reported in recent years, the bulk of public interest and
funding has heretofore been directed at the Neuse River Basin, which is just to the north.
Well organized, grass-roots efforts have been underway for some time to study water
quality problems on the Neuse and to develop effective management strategies.
Most
officials and researchers agree that the Cape Fear River is generally in better condition
than the Neuse. Nonetheless, without effective, proactive management it probably also
faces a bleak future. For instance, more than 35% of the streams in the watershed are
considered threatened and 18% are impaired by pollution. Sediment is the major pollutant,
although nutrient enrichment, BOD and toxic chemicals are also problems. The main
pollution sources are urban stormwater, construction, agriculture and wastewater treatment
plants.
Therefore, while the problems on the Cape Fear have not reached the critical level that
are present on the Neuse, there is a great need for improved planning and management tools
to improve regulation and use of water resources within the basin. The purpose of
this study is to develop this management tool.
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