4.5 River Basins
4.5.17 Tar–Pamlico River Basin 4.5.17.1 River Basin Description
Te Tar–Pamlico River Basin covers 6,148 square miles, making it the fourth-largest river basin in North Carolina. It is one of only four river basins whose boundaries are located entirely within the state. Te Tar River and its headwaters originate in Person, Granville, and Vance counties in the north central part of the Piedmont. It fows southeast until it reaches tidal waters near Washington and becomes the Pamlico River and empties into the Pamlico Sound. Major tributaries include Fishing Creek, Swift Creek, Cokey Swamp, Tranters Creek, and the Pungo River (NCDWR 2015d) . Tere are two distinct portions of the Tar–Pamlico River Basin: the upper one-ffth, which is in the Piedmont physiographic region, and the lower four-ffths, which is in the Coastal Plain physiographic region. • Te Piedmont portion, running from the river headwaters to the fall line, lies on the Carolina Slate Belt and Triassic Basin geologic units. Tis portion of the basin features low gradients with sluggish pools separated by rifes and occasional small rapids. Soils are highly erodible and are underlain by fractured rock formations that have limited water storage capacity. Streams in the Piedmont tend to have low summer fows and limited ability to assimilate oxygen-consuming wastes (NCDWR 2014d) . • Te Coastal Plain portion features slow-moving blackwater streams, low-lying swamps, and productive estuarine waters. Te larger waterbodies are meandering, often lined with swamps and bottomland hardwoods, and have naturally low levels of DO and low pH. Soils are deep sands that have a high groundwater storage capacity. Natural lakes include the remnants of bay lakes in the lower Coastal Plain (NCDWR 2014d) . Land use in the basin is approximately 26% forested, 22% agricultural, 18% wetland, 5% urban or developed, and 3% grassland (MRLC 2011; Jin et al. 2013) . Publicly owned lands include nearly 38,000 acres of NCWRC game lands, including Butner–Falls of Neuse, Carteret, Croatan NF, and Neuse River, three national wildlife refuges (Lake Mattamuskeet, Pocosin Lakes, and Swanquarter) and two state parks (Goose Creek and Medoc Mountain). North Carolina’s largest natural lake, Lake Mattamuskeet, also is located in this basin. Te Tar–Pamlico River Basin contains all or parts of 19 counties and 52 municipalities of varying size, including Rocky Mount, Greenville, Henderson, Oxford, Tarboro, and Washington.
Figure 4.33 depicts the location of the basin.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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