4.5 River Basins
4.5.7 Chowan River Basin 4.5.7.1 River Basin Description
Te Chowan River is formed at the confuence of the Nottoway and Blackwater rivers near the border of Virginia and North Carolina, and it is approximately 50 miles long. Te North Carolina portion of the basin is composed of two major drainages: Chowan River and Meherrin River. Major tributaries to the Chowan River include the Meherrin River, Potecasi Creek, Wiccacon River, Bennetts Creek, Indian Creek, and Rockyhock Creek. Te Chowan River Basin is part of the Albemarle–Pamlico Estuarine system, the second largest estua- rine system in the United States. Te headwaters of the Chowan River begin in the Coastal Plain ecoregion of Virginia, where 75% of the basin is located. Te basin enters North Carolina in the northeastern portion of the state. Along with the Roanoke River, the Chowan supplies most of the fresh water supply to the Albemarle Sound. Fishes move between the Chowan, Roanoke and Pasquotank River basins freely as a result of the common connection with the sound (NCDWQ 2007a) . As the twelfth largest river basin in the state, the Chowan River Basin is one of the smaller basins with a watershed of 1,298 square miles in the state. Te basin con- tains about 1,124 miles of freshwater streams, 1,787 acres of lakes and impoundments, and 16,500 acres of estuarine waters (NCDWQ 2007a; NCDWR 2015a). Land use in the basin is 40% forested, 27% agricultural, 20% wetland, 4% grassland, and 6% urban or developed (NCDWR 2015b) . Land in this area is very fat and the geology consists of alternating layers of sand, silt, clay and limestone. Low fow over the warmest months of the year limits the ability of streams to maintain high DO levels. Te region has slow natu- ral drainage. Many streams are swamp systems, and many man-made ditches have been installed to accommodate drainage for agriculture (NCDWQ 2007a, 2011b) . Stream swamp sys- tems periodically have no visible fow or low fow, usually during the summer, but fowing water should be present in swamp streams during the winter. Te North Carolina portion of the basin includes all or part of fve counties: Northampton, Hertford, Gates, Bertie and Chowan. Tere are 19 municipalities in the basin and the larg- est are Edenton, Ahoskie, and Murfreesboro. Human population density is about 44 per- sons per square mile based on an estimated population size of 61,034 people, which is less than 1% of North Carolina’s total population (NCDWQ 2007a, 2009; USCB 2012) . Figure 4.13 depicts the geographic location of the basin. 4.5.7.2 Aquatic Resource Conditions Approximately 100 miles of the Chowan River are considered an Aquatic Signifcant Natural Heritage Area by the NCNHP. Te Chowan River receives this designation because of the diversity of its freshwater mussel populations, many of which are rare and
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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