HomeMy WebLinkAboutSec B Ch 8 03-08-37
Section B - Chapter 8
Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37
Catawba Creek and Crowders Creek
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8.1 Subbasin Overview
This subbasin contains the Catawba and Crowders Creek
watersheds which flow through Kings Mountain and the
Southern Outer Piedmont ecoregions. Much of the
subbasin is forested, but there are also substantial urban
areas. The population in this area is not expected to grow
as rapidly as in other areas of the Catawba River basin
(Table A-6), but urban stormwater remains a significant
concern.
There are six facilities in this subbasin required to
monitor effluent toxicity. Five of these facilities have had
one or more failing tests since 1997: Gastonia/Catawba
Creek WWTP (3 failures), FMC Corp. (formerly Lithium
Corp. (3)), Rhodia Inc. (4), CR Industries (3), and
Textron, Inc. (7).
There were 11 benthic macroinvertebrate community
samples and two fish community samples (Figure B-8
and Table B-16) collected during this assessment period.
Two sites remained the same and 11 sites were sampled
for the first time during this assessment period. Refer to
2003 Catawba River Basinwide Assessment Report at
http://www.esb.enr.state.nc.us/bar.html and Section A, Chapter
3 for more information on monitoring.
There are two ambient monitoring sites located in this subbasin: Lake Wylie at NC 49 and
Crowders Creek at SC 564. Catawba Creek has shown a steady decrease in conductivity since
the middle 1980s; whereas, Crowders Creek has shown elevated conductivity and nitrogen levels
since the early 1990s. Catawba Creek has shown slightly decreased total phosphorus
concentrations since the late 1970s, while dissolved oxygen concentrations have decreased since
the late 1970s. Point source dischargers have historically contributed to severe problems in
Crowders Creek.
Waters in Part 8.3 are identified by assessment unit number (AU#). This number is used to track
defined segments in the water quality assessment database, 303(d) Impaired waters list, and the
various tables in this basin plan. The assessment unit number is a subset of the DWQ index
number (classification identification number). A letter attached to the end of the AU# indicates
that the assessment is smaller than the DWQ index segment. No letter indicates that the
assessment unit and the DWQ index segment are the same.
Subbasin 03-08-37 at a Glance
Land and Water Area
Total area: 106mi2
i2
Water area: 1mi2
Population Statistics
2000 Est. Pop.: 55,232 people
Pop. Density: 516 persons/mi2
Land Cover (percent)
Forest/Wetland: 63%
Surface Water: 1%
Urban: 15%
Agriculture: 21%
Counties
Cleveland and Gaston
Municipalities
Bessemer City, Gastonia and
Kings Mountain
Land area: 105m
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 174
Table B-16 DWQ Assessment and Use Support Ratings Summary for Monitored Waters in Subbasin 03-08-37
Biological Ambient Other 2004 1998
Abernethy Creek 11-135-4a C 3.2 mi.AL SB-1 NI--02 S ST
Abernethy Creek 11-135-4b C 1.8 mi.AL SB-2 F--02 IST
Blackwood Creek 11-135-7 C 4.4 mi.AL SB-3 NR--02 NR -
Catawba Creek 11-130c C 4.9 mi.AL F-1 F--02 I NS
Crowders Creek 11-135a C 1.9 mi.AL SB-4 NR--02 NR PS
Crowders Creek 11-135b C 3.1 mi.AL SB-5 GF--02 S PS
Crowders Creek 11-135c C 3.3 mi.AL SB-6 F--02 I PS
Crowders Creek 11-135d C 7.3 mi.AL F-2 F--02 I PS
Crowders Creek 11-135g C 1.5 mi.AL
B-1 F--97
B-1 F--02 C8660000 nce I PS
South Fork Crowders Creek 11-135-10 C 5.7 mi.AL
SB-7 GF--02
SB-8 F--02
SB-9 GF--02 NR PS
Blackwood Creek 11-135-7 C 4.4 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I -
Crowders Creek 11-135a C 1.9 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I -
Crowders Creek 11-135b C 3.1 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I -
Crowders Creek 11-135c C 3.3 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I -
Crowders Creek 11-135d C 7.3 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I-
Crowders Creek 11-135e C 1.5 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I-
Waterbody Length / Area
Data Type with Map Number and
Data Results
Use Support Rating
Category
DWQ
Classification
Assessment Unit
Number
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 176
Table B-16 DWQ Assessment and Use Support Ratings Summary for Monitored Waters in Subbasin 03-08-37
Biological Ambient Other 2004 1998Waterbody Length / Area
Data Type with Map Number and
Data Results
Use Support Rating
Category
DWQ
Classification
Assessment Unit
Number
Crowders Creek 11-135f C 1.4 mi.REC
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I-
Crowders Creek 11-135g C 1.5 mi.REC C8660000 ce
Special
Fecal Coliform
TMDL Study I-
Assessment Unit Number - Portion of DWQ Classified Index where monitoring is applied to assign a use support rating.
Use Categories:Monitoring data type: Use Support Ratings 2004:
AL - Aquatic Life F - Fish Community Survey E - Excellent NI - Not Impaired S - Supporting, I - Impaired, NR - Not Rated
REC - Recreation B - Benthic Community Survey G - Good
SB - Special Benthic Community Study GF - Good-Fair Use Support Ratings 1998:
F - Fair FS - fully supporting, ST - supporting but threatened
P - Poor PS - partially supporting, NS - not supporting
nce - no criteria exceeded
ce - criteria exceeded
Bioclassifcations:
Ambient Data
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 177
Use support ratings are summarized in Part 8.2 below. Recommendations, current status and
future recommendations for waters that were Impaired in 1999 and newly Impaired waters are
discussed in Part 8.3 below. Waters with notable impacts and water quality issues related to the
entire subbasin are discussed in Parts 8.4 and 8.5. Refer to Appendix III for use support methods
and more information on all monitored waters.
8.2 Use Support Assessment Summary
Use support ratings in subbasin 03-08-37 were assigned for aquatic life, fish consumption,
recreation and water supply. All waters in the subbasin are considered Impaired on an Evaluated
basis because of a fish consumption advice (Section A, Chapter 4, Part 4.10). Refer to Table B-
17 for a summary of use support ratings by use support category for waters in the subbasin.
Table B-17 does not include freshwater acreage associated with Lake Wylie to avoid duplication
between subbasins. Lake Wylie’s entire acreage is included in Table B-10.
Table B-17 Summary of Use Support Ratings by Use Support Category in Subbasin 03-08-37
Use Support
Rating Life Consumption
Water Aquatic Fish Recreation Supply
Monitored Waters
Supporting 6.3 mi 0 0 0
Impaired 18.8 mi 0 24.4 mi. 0
Not Rated 23.6 mi 0 0 0
Total 48.7 mi 0 24.4 mi 0
Unmonitored Waters
Supporting 0 0 0 0.
Impaired 0 84.4 mi 0 0
Not Rated 11.4 mi 0 0 0
No Data 24.2 mi 0 59.9 mi 0
Total 35.6 mi 84.4 mi 59.9 mi 0
All Waters 84.4 mi 84.4 mi 84.4 mi 0
Totals
Note: All waters include monitored, evaluated and waters that were not assessed.
8.3 Status and Recommendations of Previously and Newly Impaired
Waters
The following waters were identified in the 1999 basin plan as Impaired or are newly Impaired
based on recent data. The current status and recommendations for addressing these waters are
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 178
presented below. These waters are identified by assessment unit number (AU#). Refer to the
overview above for more information on AUs.
8.3.1 Catawba Creek [AU# 11-130a, 11-130b, and 11-130c]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
Catawba Creek, a tributary to Lake Wylie, drains the south and southeast area of the City of
Gastonia and southeastern Gaston County. The 13.5 miles from its source to Lake Wylie appear
on the state’s 303(d) list as Impaired because of urban runoff, storm sewers and municipal point
source discharges.
The City of Gastonia’s 9 MGD WWTP, which previously discharged to Catawba Creek, no
longer discharges into this watershed. Eliminating this discharge decreased the conductivity in
the stream from 293 µmhos/cm in 1997 to 148 µmhos/cm in 2002. Four smaller NPDES
permitted dischargers continue to operate, but there are no longer any major (>1 MGD)
dischargers in the watershed. At site F-1, the stream and riparian zones are degraded by poor
land use and livestock have access to the stream.
Catawba Creek is in a very similar condition to Long Creek (subbasin 03-08-36) prior to the
restoration activities described in Section B, Chapter 7. Poor land use activities, livestock
access, and an urbanizing watershed all suggest that Catawba Creek would benefit from a
restoration program modeled after the Long Creek project. DWQ will work with interested
parties to provide guidance and secure funding for such a project.
8.3.2 Crowders Creek [AU# 11-135a, 11-135b, 11-135c, 11-135d, 11-135e, 11-135f, and
11-135g]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
Crowders Creek, also a tributary to Lake Wylie, drains the south and western region of the City
of Gastonia, the Interstate 85 corridor, and the eastern area of the Town of Kings Mountain. The
entire 15.8-mile creek is listed as Impaired in the state’s 303(d) list due to high fecal coliform
concentrations from urban runoff, storm sewers and point source discharges. Data also indicate
the biological community is Impaired. The South Carolina portions of the creek are Impaired
because of poor biological communities and high fecal coliform concentrations. SCDHEC is
providing information to assist DWQ in this TMDL development. As a by-product of this
project, SCDHEC will receive an updated version of the Catawba WARMF model.
DWQ met with representatives of the City of Gastonia and the Gaston County Cooperative
Extension Services in 2001 to discuss the development of a Crowders Creek TMDL. As a result
of that meeting, the organizations agreed to conduct two intensive surveys of fecal coliform in
the Crowders Creek watershed. The studies concluded that widespread water quality problems
exist in the watershed and fecal coliform concentrations exceed the state standard in many
locations. However, because of upgrades to a lithium ore processing plant and the removal of
the Kings Mountain WWTP, Bessemer City WWTP and a chicken rendering plant, the studies
did not note the severe water quality problems documented in the late 1980s.
A benthic macroinvertebrate sample at the SC 564 site in 1988 was rated Poor. Although the
rating improved to Fair in 1989 and Good-Fair in 1992, site B-1 has been rated Fair since 1997.
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 179
One facility implicated in the degraded water quality was the Carolina and Southern Processing
plant. Approximately three years ago, this facility tied onto the City of Gastonia’s WWTP and
has ceased its direct discharge to Crowders Creek. Additionally, in the spring of 2002, the
Bessemer City WWTP ceased its 1.5 MGD discharge to Abernethy Creek (a tributary to
Crowders Creek) and now sends waste to Gastonia’s recently upgraded WWTP. These changes
may have been responsible for the slight improvement in the biological community in Crowders
Creek.
The final product of these studies is a fecal coliform TMDL scheduled for public notice in the
first quarter of 2004. The TMDL evaluates the contribution of both point and nonpoint sources
and attempts to determine the percentage by which various types of sources (urban, agriculture,
WWTP, etc.) contribute to the degradation of Crowders Creek. Initial results show that urban
runoff contributes nearly two-thirds of the total fecal coliform load, versus one-third by
agriculture and WWTPs combined. This finding indicates that Crowders Creek would likely
benefit from a management plan that reduces the detrimental effects of urbanization. For more
information on management suggestions for urbanizing watersheds, please refer to Section A,
Chapter 4, Part 4.11. Additionally, DWQ encourages implementation of agriculture BMPs
wherever possible. Even though agriculture does not constitute the largest source of fecal
coliform bacteria in this watershed, eliminating cattle access to streams will provide substantial
protection to stream habitat and assist in the reduction of overall fecal coliform concentrations
(see Section C, Chapter 1 for funding assistance sources).
8.3.3 Unnamed Tributary to Crowders Creek [AU# 11-135-8.5]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
The entire 0.4-mile segment of this stream from its source to Crowders Creek is listed as
Impaired for unknown causes. The biological sampling strategy for the Crowders Creek TMDL
described above included a site on this stream. DWQ biologists noted poor instream habitat,
possible toxicity, and evidence of nutrient enrichment. Given its direct connection to Crowders
Creek, DWQ feels improvements to this stream will be best addressed through implementation
plans developed for the Crowders Creek TMDL.
8.3.4 McGill Creek [AU#11-135-2]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
McGill Creek, a tributary to Crowders Creek, is listed on the state’s 303(d) list as Impaired for
unknown causes (2.4 miles). Kings Mountain has ceased operation of a wastewater treatment
plant that once discharged into this creek and had an instream waste concentration limit of 100
percent. This means that, at times, the discharge from the WWTP could have comprised the
entire flow in the stream. Biologists attempting to sample McGill Creek for inclusion in the
Crowders Creek TMDL study were unable to locate any water in the stream, instead finding only
a dry ditch. McGill Creek was therefore not sampled. Because the WWTP no longer operates
and the stream appears to be intermittent, DWQ has no plans to sample this creek again and will
recommend it be removed from the 303(d) list.
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 180
8.3.5 Abernethy Creek [AU# 11-135-4b]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
Abernethy Creek receives runoff from I-85 and discharges from a lithium ore processing plant.
The stream was originally rated Fair in 1987, but improved to Good-Fair as upgrades to the plant
were completed. Site SB-2 may have been rated Fair in 2002 because of the drought and
consequent reduction in dilution of the plant discharge. Therefore, 1.75 miles from First Creek
to Crowders Creek are currently Impaired in support of aquatic life. DWQ should continue to
monitor the impacts of the discharge on the biological community in Abernethy Creek and work
with the discharger to determine if any additional upgrades are necessary. Installation of BMPs
to reduce the impact of land use activities along the upper section may also help restore this
stream.
8.3.6 Lake Wylie [AU# 11-(117), 11-(122), and 11-(123.5)]
The area covered by Lake Wylie overlaps the boundaries of subbasins 03-08-34, 03-08-36 and
03-08-37. Therefore, a detailed discussion on Lake Wylie can be found in Section A, Chapter 4,
Part 4.7.3. This reservoir was most recently monitored in 2001 and 2002 and was classified as
eutrophic. Percent oxygen saturation at the surface exceeded 120 percent in approximately 50
percent of the measurements lake wide. Nutrient concentrations ranged from moderate to
elevated with particularly high levels of total phosphorus and total Kjeldahl nitrogen in the
Crowders Creek arm. This arm also had elevated total phosphorus concentrations in 1997.
However, as a result of the City of Gastonia decommissioning its Catawba Creek WWTP and
redirecting this effluent to the improved Long Creek WWTP, the Crowders Creek arm has
shown an overall decrease in total phosphorus and total nitrogen. Despite these improvements,
there are still severe nutrient and dissolved oxygen concerns in the reservoir. Because
chlorophyll a concentrations violate the state standards, Lake Wylie is considered Impaired for
aquatic life.
8.4 Status and Recommendations for Waters with Noted Impacts
The surface waters discussed in this section are not Impaired. However, notable water quality
problems and concerns have been documented for some waters based on this assessment. While
these waters are not Impaired, attention and resources should be focused on these waters to
prevent additional degradation or facilitate water quality improvement. Waters in the following
section are identified by assessment unit number (AU#). See overview for more information on
AUs.
8.4.1 South Fork Crowders Creek [AU# 11-135-10]
Current Status and 2004 Recommendations
South Fork Crowders Creek was sampled as part of an intensive sampling effort to support
TMDL development for Crowders Creek. Sites SB-7, SB-8 and SB-9 received Good-Fair, Fair
and Good-Fair bioclassifications, respectively. The use support rating for this stream is Not
Rated because of the inconclusive bioclassifications. However, the habitat at all these sites
showed significant impact from non point source runoff. The riparian buffer is narrow and the
stream substrate is heavily embedded by sand and silt. The conditions in this stream will not
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 181
improve and may further decline is nonpoint sources of pollution in the watershed are not
reduced. This stream should be included in any management strategy developed for Crowders
Creek. See section 8.3.2 above.
8.5 Additional Water Quality Issues within Subbasin 03-08-37
Subbasins in and around the Greater Charlotte Metropolitan Area are experiencing rapid growth
as new homes and businesses sprout up on old farms and forests. This development places
intense pressure on the sensitive stream communities within those watersheds. In order to
prevent aquatic habitat degradation and Impaired biological communities, protection measures
should be put in place immediately. Refer to Section A, Chapter 4, Part 4.11 for a description of
urban stream water quality problems and recommendations for reducing impacts and restoring
water quality.
Section B: Chapter 8 - Catawba River Subbasin 03-08-37 182