4.5 River Basins
4.5.16 Savannah River Basin 4.5.16.1 River Basin Description
Te headwaters of the Savannah River Basin begin along the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains and fow south through Georgia and South Carolina to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Only 2% of the total Savannah River Basin is within North Carolina. Te basin encompasses 172 square miles, making it the smallest of the state’s river basins. Te North Carolina portion has approximately 176 miles of streams and 1,366 reservoir acres. Streams in the North Carolina portion of this river basin are part of the Tugaloo River and Seneca River subbasins (South Carolina); however, both of these named rivers begin out- side the state. Major tributaries of the Tugaloo in North Carolina are the Overfow and Big creeks, and the Chattooga River. Major tributaries of the Seneca River in North Carolina include the Toxaway, Horsepasture, Tompson, and Whitewater rivers. Land use cover in the basin is 91% forested, 1% agricultural, 7% urban or developed, and less than 1% grassland and wetland (MRLC 2011; Jin et al. 2013) . A signifcant portion of the basin is publicly owned land, primarily Nantahala National Forest (189,060 acres), Pisgah National Forest (107,111 acres), NCWRC game lands (nearly 3,000 acres), and Gorges State Park (7,640 acres). Te basin encompasses all or part of four counties (Clay, Jackson, Macon, and Transylvania) and has one sizable municipality (Highlands). Figure 4.31 depicts the loca- tion of the basin. 4.5.16.2 Aquatic Resource Conditions Water quality is generally good for areas where data are available; however, there are prob- lems in parts of the basin (described below), and the lack of data for nearly half the basin provides an unclear assessment of overall water quality. Most of the Tugaloo River tributar- ies in North Carolina and four miles of the Horsepasture River are designated Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW), and portions of Bearwallow Creek and Whitewater River are des- ignated High-Quality Waters (HQW). Te requirements for classifcation as ORW are more stringent than those for HQW and in some circumstances, the unique characteristics of the resources require that a specialized management strategy be developed (NCDWR 2015d) . Table 4.80 provides information on water quality classifcations and use-support ratings in the basin. Water quality in the Savannah River Basin is excellent in major streams and most small headwater streams. Tere are 211 miles and 619 acres of NCDWR designated Trout waters (Tr) in the basin. Tis is not the same as the Commission’s designated public Mountain
609
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online