Published: Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 / Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 11:47 AM
Catawba makes endangered list
After river falls off one list, it makes regional group’s top 10
LAKE WYLIE --
Different year, different group, same conclusion – the Catawba River is in danger.
According the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Catawba ranks among the Top 10 Endangered Places 2010 along with rivers, wetlands, ocean stretches and natural areas from six states. The Cape Fear wetlands in North Carolina and South Carolina’s freshwater wetlands also make the list.
According to southernenvironment.org, the group chose the Catawba because threats from “a low-flow scheme for hydroelectric dams that would restrict the flow of water essential to a healthy river system, and the lack of an overarching and coherent plan to protect the ecological integrity of the river and prevent over-allocation of its waters.”
SELC was closed Monday because of the weather and unavailable for comment by press time Monday. SELC works regionally, covering both Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, according to the Web site.
In 2008, the environmental advocacy group American Rivers named the Catawba-Wateree system its most endangered river nationally. However, the Catawba did not make the top 10 for 2009 despite the organization claiming “no progress” made in eight months after the original designation. The 2010 list will be released in June.
“Closing our eyes to the problem isn’t a solution,” said Gerrit Jöbsis, southeast regional director for American Rivers, in December 2008. “Sucking our rivers dry isn’t a solution. The only real solution is to improve how we manage our water, so that we can protect our economy, environment and quality of life.”
SELC has intimate knowledge of the Catawba. Following a North Carolina Environmental Management Commission decision in January 2007 that allowed the cities of Concord and Kannapolis to withdraw up to 10 million gallons of water per day from the Catawba for transfer to the Rocky River basin, SELC represented municipalities and environmental interests in appealing the decision. Last month, that appeal came to resolution when Concord and Kannapolis agreeing to slow the implementation of the withdraw and take less water in times of drought.
“The agreement provides a model for water conservation and efficiency measures that, if adopted by other municipalities, could help protect all the state’s rivers,” said SELC senior attorney Julie Youngman after the Jan. 20 appeal resolution.
Some of the issues identified by SELC and American Rivers are being addressed. In addition to the North Carolina interbasin transfer appeal resolution, South Carolina and North Carolina remain entangled in a U.S. Supreme Court case deciding whether North Carolina should be allowed to divert the water. Also, in South Carolina the state Senate will soon begin discussions about a bill that could mandate permits for water withdrawers.
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