Chapter 4 Habitats
There are approximately 5,862 stream miles and 22,988 lake acres in the basin (NCDWQ 2003) . Major tributaries in the Yadkin-Pee Dee basin are South Yadkin, Uwharrie River, and Rocky River. There are eight impoundments on the main stem of the Yadkin and Pee Dee rivers (W. Kerr Scott Reservoir, Idols Dam, High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Reservoir, Badin Lake, Falls Reservoir, Lake Tillery, and Blewett Falls Lake), plus many smaller reservoirs on tributaries. Many tributaries flow through densely populated areas of central North Carolina such as Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and their suburban areas. The Uwharrie Lakes region is composed of impounded waters from six major hydroelectric projects that include the four upstream dams operated by Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (APGI) and two lower dams operated by Duke Energy (Burns et al. 2012) . Land use in the basin is 55% forested, 24% agricultural, 13% urban or developed, 6% grassland, and 1% wetland (MRLC 2011; Yin et al. 2013) . Urban and developed areas have steadily increased in size as the populations of Charlotte and other cities in the basin have grown. Public lands make up less than 5% of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin. The estimated 2024 population for the 13 counties with the largest urban centers in the basin was over 3.1 million people; population is projected to increase up to 20% by 2040 (OSBM 2025) . The largest population increases are projected for Union, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, and Iredell counties. 4.5.20.2 Aquatic Resource Conditions Over 7,800 miles of freshwater streams in the basin have been classified by NCDWR for best uses (NCDWR 2015d) . In addition to the best-use classifications, NCDWR also monitors state waters to determine if they are supporting their use classification(s) and assigns use-support ratings based on that information. These ratings are published in the most recent 303(d) impaired waterbodies list (NCDWQ 2015a, 2015b) . Some waterbodies in the basin have supplemental classifications as High Quality Waters (HQW) or Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW), because they either have excellent water quality or they are a significant resource to humans or wildlife (NCDWQ 2015d) . There are 111 stream reaches that have a HQW classification, including portions of Elkin Creek (River), Dutch Buffalo Creek, Denson’s Creek and the Fisher, Little, Reddies, and South Yadkin rivers as well as other headwaters and tributaries (NCDEQ 2025f,g) . There are seven HQW Special Management Strategy Areas (SMSAs) totaling over 49,000 acres in the basin including Denson’s Creek (17,490 acres), Little River (12,594 acres), Rocky Creek (6,638 acres), Bridger Creek (4,754 acres), and four other locations (NCDWR 2015c) . There are four ORW SMSAs covering more than 92,975 acres in the basin, including Mitchell River Area (32,149 acres) and Elk Creek Area (32,284 acres) (NCDWR 2015c) . These areas require site-specific provisions to protect resource values (e.g., no new discharges or expansion of existing discharges) (see 15A NCAC 02B.0225).
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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