4.2 Aquatic Communities
• Gain a broad community-level perspective to simplify the in-stream fow assessments associated with hydropower projects. Research is needed to develop habitat suitability criteria to aid in the assessments (Lobb and Orth 1991) . Management Practices. Management practices that reduce impacts and work synergis- tically with other conservation actions are needed to enhance the resilience of natural resources. Particular needs include preserving biodiversity, protecting native populations and their habitats, and improving degraded habitats. Partnerships and Cooperative Eforts. Conservation programs, incentives, and partner- ships should be utilized to the fullest extent to preserve high-quality resources and pro- tect important natural communities. Protective measures that utilize existing regulatory frameworks to protect habitats and species should be incorporated where applicable.
4.2.6 Groundwater, Springs, and Subterranean Water Systems 4.2.6.1 Ecosystem Description
Groundwater is present throughout North Carolina at varying depths below the land sur- face. Te traditional defnition for groundwater is subsurface water that occurs beneath the water table in soils and geologic formations that are fully saturated (Freeze and Cherry 1979) . For this aquatic community description, we use the term “groundwater” to represent all subsurface waters generically, including saturated soils and underground streams. Tese systems may interact with or transition to other types of habitats (e.g., streams, lakes, wet- lands) (Winter et al. 1998) which are described as separate natural communities in other sec- tions of this chapter. Groundwater is subsurface water stored in a zone of soil saturation and occurs beneath the water table (Freeze and Cherry 1979; Fetter 2001) and difers from surface waters because of the absence of light and the fact that organic matter and oxygen are imported from the surface (Hahn 2009) . Groundwater recharge is the process where water infltrated from the surface is added to the saturated zone; the top of the saturation zone is referred to as the water table (Domenico and Schwartz 1998; Campbell and Coes 2010) . Groundwater forms a water table that can lie at the ground’s surface and contribute to the basefow of a stream or it can be situ- ated underground at varying depths, existing as subsurface fow. Some groundwater dis- charge is an interstitial habitat that is hydrologically linked to and contributes basefow to wetlands, ponds, or lakes (Culver et al. 2012). Groundwater intersects with streams where the water table is at or slightly above the streambed (Gordon et al . 1992; Peterson and Rabeni 1996). Springs are points of focused groundwater discharged at a small point on the land surface (van der Kamp 1995; McGinley 2013). Tey are generally stable in terms of water quality, tempera- ture and fow (Fleury 2009) . Springs can also form at the spots where karst waters emerge
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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