The Catawba River originates in

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United ...

and flows into

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, where it later becomes known as the

Wateree River } The Wateree River, about 75 mi (120 km) long, is a tributary of the Santee River in central South Carolina in the United States, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. It was named for the Wateree Native Americans, a tribe who had migr ...

. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

and drains into the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, where it has been impounded through a series of reservoirs for

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

and generation of

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. The river is named after the Catawba tribe of Native Americans, which lives on its banks. In their

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

, they call themselves "yeh is-WAH h’reh", meaning "people of the river." The river rises in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virg ...

in western present-day McDowell County, North Carolina, approximately 20 miles (30 km) east of Asheville. It flows ENE, falling over two waterfalls, Upper Catawba Falls and

Catawba Falls Catawba Falls is a series of waterfalls on the headwaters of the Catawba River, in McDowell County, near Old Fort, North Carolina. Geology The Catawba River flows over 2 major waterfalls in a short distance. The first drop, called Upper Cata ...

, before being dammed by Lake James, and joining the Linville River. It passes north of Morganton, then southeast through Lake Rhodhiss and Lake Hickory just north of

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mex ...

, and into the

Lake Norman Lake Norman is the largest man-made body of fresh water in North Carolina. It was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy. Geography Lake Norman is fed by the Catawba River, and drains i ...

reservoir. From Lake Norman it flows south, passing west of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, then flowing through the Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie reservoirs, where it exits the reservoirs approximately 10 miles (15 km) south of the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. The confluence of the

South Fork Catawba River The South Fork Catawba River (better known as the South Fork River) begins south of Hickory, North Carolina just northwest of the intersection of US Highway 321 and North Carolina Highway 10, at the confluence of the Henry Fork and Jacob Fork. ...

and Catawba River is submerged by Lake Wylie near the NC/SC state line. The river flows into northern South Carolina, passing Rock Hill, through Fishing Creek Reservoir near Great Falls, and into the

Lake Wateree Lake Wateree is a reservoir in Kershaw, Fairfield, and Lancaster counties, South Carolina, in the United States. Developed in 1919 by the damming of the Wateree River, it is one of South Carolina's oldest man-made lakes. It has of shoreline a ...

reservoir, approximately 30 miles (50 km) northeast of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

. At the now-submerged confluence with Wateree Creek, it becomes known as the

Dams

The Catawba has been controlled by several dams, including the following: North Carolina * Lake James Dam * Rhodhiss Dam *Oxford Dam *Lookout Shoals Dam * Cowans Ford Dam, creating

* Mountain Island Lake Dam South Carolina * Lake Wylie Dam in India Hook * Fishing Creek Reservoir in Great Falls *Dearborn-Great Falls Dam *Cedar Creek Reservoir Dam *

Dam

Controversy

In 2006 the river became the center of a water use controversy between the residents of the Catawba watershed and Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The cities of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

and

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

are expecting a daily shortfall of of water a day by 2035 and want to pump up to of water daily from the Catawba River. The Concord/Kannapolis Interbasin Transfer (IBT) proposal calls for water to be permanently transferred from one river basin to another river basin. Such a transfer is unlike the more common water usage, in which municipalities within the Catawba basin pump water from the river and treat it for residential use. Much of that treated water eventually returns to the Catawba River. Though neither Concord nor Kannapolis is located in the Catawba River basin (both are located in the

Pee Dee River The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known as ...

basin), the cities said the Catawba River is a regional resource. Opponents of the IBT argued that towns and cities along the Catawba River basin are growing as well, and that the cities' request is too large. On January 10, 2007, the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

state environmental panel authorized Concord and Kannapolis to pump up to a day from the Catawba River. This decision represented a compromise recommended by hearing officers for the Environmental Management Commission. The mayors of Morganton and Valdese said that they were adamantly against the transfer and that the panel's ruling was skewed and biased. Concord's city manager said the approval of the water transfer was "bittersweet", since the panel authorized an amount much lower than was originally requested and the action is likely to be delayed by lawsuits.

“Well, (officials from) Hickory are going to file an appeal,” said Concord Mayor Scott Padgett, who spoke briefly with Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright after the EMC meeting. “His major concern is changing the (interbasin transfer) process. My appeal to him is that there should be a truce. To file an appeal is just going to prolong something we deserve, is less than what we asked for and is going to further hard feelings this has already created.”

The controversy ended in early 2010 when all the parties reached a settlement. It further limits the amount of water available to Concord and Kannapolis under drought conditions.

A river at risk

Starting in the early autumn months of 2007, residents and businesses of the Catawba basin, along with large swaths of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, began to feel the effects of an extreme drought. On October 15, 2007, the ''Morganton News Herald'' reported that

Governor

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been convicted of a felony. A member of ...

described the drought as "the worst in recorded history". On January 29, 2008,

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

, 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 available to help pay for solutions to the drought. In April 2008 the environmental group American Rivers named the Catawba-

"the most endangered river in America." Reasons cited for the river's condition are the drought, the presence of 11 hydroelectric dams,

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, and unchecked development along its banks, with the latter reported as the most serious threat. 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 allows the state to convene an advisory group to address river-related concerns. On June 29, 2009, the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

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. The EPA High Hazard list also includes ash ponds on Lake Wylie and

. On December 11, 2014,

received approval from North Carolina to dump

coal ash Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed wh ...

(containing arsenic, lead, thallium and mercury, among other heavy metals) from the

Marshall Steam Station Marshall Steam Station is a coal power plant located at in Sherrills Ford, Catawba County, North Carolina, United States and owned by Duke Energy. Named for former company president E.C. Marshall, the station is located on Lake Norman and began ...

into

in order to repair a rusted, leaking pipe at their facility. Groundwater at the Marshall Steam Station flows toward Lake Norman, and the contaminated field abuts the lake for about 30 feet of shoreline near its largest coal ash basin, threatening water quality in the lake. On October 3, 2015, Duke Energy reported that a sinkhole had formed at the base of the Marshall Steam Station dam north of Charlotte on Lake Norman. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says Duke Energy placed a liner in the hole and filled it with crushed stone. The Catawba River basin is one of only four areas 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.

Crossings

The Catawba River is crossed by many highways over its course. (Note: this list may be incomplete) North Carolina *Lake James to Lake Norman **Power House Road **Watermill Glen Alpine Road **Independence Blvd in Morganton **N Green Street (N.C. 181) in Morganton ** U.S. 64 in Morganton **Huffman Bridge **Castle Bridge near Rutherford College **Rhodhiss Road in Rhodhiss ** U.S. 321 in

**N.C. 127 near Hickory **N.C. 16 below Oxford Dam ** Interstate 40 ** US 70 in Catawba **Buffalo Shoals Road (Iredell County)/Hudson Chapel Road (Catawba County) over

**N.C. 150 over Lake Norman *Lake Norman to the SC border **N.C. 73 bridge at Cowans Ford Dam **Rozzelle Bridge on Brookshire Blvd (N.C. 16) over Mountain Island Lake **E. Charlotte Avenue in Mount Holly ** Interstate 85 **Wilkinson Blvd U.S. 29 and U.S. 74 in Belmont **

Buster Boyd Bridge The Buster Boyd Bridge is a four-lane automobile bridge spanning the Catawba River/Lake Wylie between Lake Wylie, York County, South Carolina and Steele Creek, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The bridge carries/connects SC 49 and ...

over Lake Wylie South Carolina *Lake Wylie to Lake Wateree **

Interstate 77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

between Rock Hill and Ft. Mill **Cherry Road U.S. 21 between Rock Hill and Ft. Mill **(Future) Dave Lyle Boulevard in Rock Hill **Rock Hill Highway ( S.C. 5) in Catawba **Lancaster-Chester Highway ( S.C. 9) **Francis Avenue in Great Falls

References

External links