4.5 River Basins
4.5.4 Broad River Basin 4.5.4.1 River Basin Description
Te Broad River Basin originates in North Carolina and fows into South Carolina where it is part of the Edisto-Santee River Basin. Te western part of the basin includes headwa- ters and major tributaries that begin in the Mountain ecoregion and fow southeastward through the foothills to form the Green and Broad Rivers. In the central part of the basin, the First Broad and Second Broad Rivers drain from the easternmost part of the Mountains and fow south across the foothills and Piedmont to merge with the lower Broad River before it crosses into South Carolina. Te Broad River merges with the Saluda River near Columbia, South Carolina to form the Congaree River, which fows into Lake Marion and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Te North Carolina part of the basin covers about 1,513 square miles (28% of the entire watershed) with nearly 3,756 miles of freshwater streams and 3,159 acres of lakes (NCDWR 2015j) . Nearly 73% of the land in the basin is covered by forest or shrubland, about 22% is agricul- tural lands, and 3.5% is urban or developed land (NCGAP 2009) . Te Commission manages nearly 36,000 acres of game lands in the Broad River Basin area, including parts of the South Mountains Game Land and Green River Game Land. Crowders Mountain, Chimney Rock State Park, and Hickory Nut Gorge and Hickory Nut Falls are well known state park destinations. Te North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) has identifed numerous Signifcant Natural Heritage Areas, Dedicated Nature Preserves, and Managed Areas in the basin that represent exceptionally rare natural communities and features that have a very high need for conservation. Many of these locations are actively managed for biodiversity through disturbance that mimics natural processes. Overall, stream gradients in the basin decrease as the topography changes from the Mountains to the foothills and into the rolling landscape of the Piedmont. Soils in the Piedmont generally contain greater proportions of sand and clay and have higher erosion potential than those in the upper portion of the basin. Stream habitats in the lower basin are generally dominated by runs and pools with high proportions of sandy and silty sub- strates. Tis geographic and geologic change provides a variety of habitats for both rare and common aquatic species, but the higher erosion potential can result in greater impacts from excess sediment loading from disturbed areas. Te Broad River Basin is located along the boundary with South Carolina and encom- passes all or part of 10 counties: Buncombe, Burke, Cleveland, Gaston, Henderson, Lincoln, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania. Municipalities in the basin range in pop- ulation size from about 200 to 21,000 people and much of the population can be found around the towns of Spindale, Rutherfordton, Forest City, and the City of Shelby (NCDWQ 2008a) . Figure 4.7 depicts the geographic location of the Broad River Basin.
507
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online