4.5 River Basins
T ABLE 4.71 Water quality classifcation and rating information for the New River Basin
Freshwater Miles
Percent (Basin Waters)
Freshwater Acres
Percent (Basin Waters)
Classifcations
Total Basin Waters*
2,071
—
239
— — —
HQW ORW
194 329
9
— —
16
Freshwater Miles
Percent (Monitored Waters)
Freshwater Acres
Percent (Monitored Waters)
Use Ratings
Total Named Waters
924 440
— 48
— — — — —
— — — — —
Supporting Impaired Not Rated
36
4
4
<1 48
No Data
444
* Total Basin Waters estimated from National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), April 2015 (EPA 2014b) .
4.5.13.3 Aquatic Species Tere are nine SGCN in the basin: six freshwater fshes and three freshwater mussel spe- cies. Appendix G provides a list of SGCN and other priority for which thereknowledge gaps and management concerns. Appendix H identifes SGCN associated with aquatic com- munities found in this river basin. Table 4.72 identifes the SGCN found in the New River Basin. 4.5.13.4 Threats Affecting Aquatic Species While water quality is generally good, there are localized problems and general habitat degradation in many cool- and warmwater habitats for priority species throughout the basin. Development and land clearing, poorly managed livestock grazing (which causes runof and stream bank degradation), unpaved rural roads along streams, and loss of riparian vegetation are some of the primary sources. Tere are nine permitted CAFOs for cattle in the basin with 12 waste lagoons associated with the facilities. Waste from these sites contains high levels of nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) in addition to fecal coliform bacteria and chemical compounds, such as antibiotics or hormone products used in commercial feeding operations (NCDWR 2015b) . Animal-waste lagoons and spray felds that discharge associated wastewater near aquatic environments are a source of contamination from runof, percolation into groundwater, and volatilization of ammonia and the release of bacterial contamination. Tese sources can signifcantly degrade water quality and endanger human and animal health (Mallin 2003; Mallin and Cahoon 2003) .
Water quality is variously degraded by acid mine drainage, impacts from urban runof, and wastewater treatment plant discharge. Erosion and sedimentation have widespread
588
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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