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Could the river run dry?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A river that flows between North and South Carolina has been named the most endangered waterway in the nation by an environmental advocacy group that considers it threatened by potential overuse and the region's persistent drought.

American Rivers put the Catawba-Wateree River ahead of nine others on the group's top 10 list for 2008. The designation is the latest bit of bad news for the 300-mile river, which is also the focus of a legal fight between the Carolinas that's made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The designation is good news; it means there is a drastic need for change," said Mecklenburg County Commissioner Parks Helms at a press conference on the designation Thursday morning.

Each year American Rivers, a national river advocacy group chooses rivers that are in danger due to a number of issues; including, the drought, litter and what the group calls water mismanagement by municipalities.

“The Catawba was once ranked 13th, but this is the first time it made the top of the list.” said David Merryman, the new "Riverkeeper" of the Catawba. “More than 1.3 million people in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg metro area depend on this river for drinking water.”

Rivers from Maine to Oregon made the list this year. The organization chooses them from nominations made by environmental and river advocacy groups and bases the selections on the significance of a river as a resource, the level of the threat and pending decisions that could affect it in the next year, Wodder said.

The most-threatened rivers this year are endangered by proposed construction projects, outdated management plans and faulty ideas to pull water from them, the report said.

"There is plenty of water to go around if we use it wisely," Wodder said.

That debate is under way in the Carolinas, where two growing suburbs of Charlotte, N.C., want to pull millions of gallons from the river before it flows south to the state line, near where its name changes to the Wateree. The river already provides drinking water to 1.3 million people and electricity to at least a million people, according to Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp., which owns and operates the river's reservoirs and power plants.

In June, South Carolina filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court opposing plans by the North Carolina cities of Concord and Kannapolis to pump up to 10 million gallons a day from the river. South Carolina said a 1991 North Carolina law allowing the water transfer violates the U.S. Constitution because it prevents the states from equitably sharing the river.

North Carolina said its water needs pose no imminent threat to its southern neighbor and called for the suit to be dismissed. The high court has appointed a special master to help resolve the dispute.

Mark Plowden, a spokesman for South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, said Wednesday that the state believes proposed overuse of the river is a "disaster in the making."

A call to the North Carolina Attorney General's office was not immediately returned Wednesday. But Concord, N.C., Mayor Scott Tadgett said the amount of water his city planned to take is "a drop in the bucket" and that his state has proved it would have little effect.

"Instead of wasting money on attorneys, what we should be doing is what I assume this study recommends, which is that we all conserve and that we all look at this as a serious issue," he said.

Outdated policies and the drought that has parched states throughout the region are threatening many rivers in Southeast, according to the report.

"The current drought, combined with water supply mismanagement and over-allocation, has dewatered thousands of acres of aquatic habitat, left muddy shorelines devoid of vegetation, and eliminated boating access in many rivers throughout the southeast," the report reads.

The American River study asks both Carolinas to track and regulate the amount of water each withdraws. It also asks lawmakers in both states to pass new laws restricting water withdrawals.

"It's a free-for-all system," said Donna Lisenby, an advisory board member for the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation. "The only way you can settle a dispute currently is through lawsuits because neither state has any water management laws."

(WCNC's Richard DeVayne contributed to this report.)

Duke Energy calls Catawba River 'healthy'

By MARIO ROLDAN / WCNC
E-mail Mario: MRoldan@WCNC.com

LAKE WYLIE, S.C. -- It’s a lifeline in two states and for the first time ever considered the most endangered river in all the country, the Catawba River.

The main source of drinking water in the area topped the list of “America’s Most Endangered Rivers,” put out by a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, American Rivers.

"We work on creating solutions rather than creating hype,” said Gerrit Jobsis, director of the group’s southeast region. “The reason we are effective is that we are not on the left wing fringe.”

The environmentalists claim “outdated water supply management” is the reason for the threat.

“There will not be enough water for the future to sustain our communities here if we don’t do appropriate action now,” Jobsis said.

Duke Energy manages the Catawba. The utility company responded by calling the river "healthy." Duke Energy is currently reapplying for its permit and points to the handling of the current drought as proof that the river is well managed.

"Although lake levels appear to have rebounded with recent spring rains, don't be fooled," warned riverkeeper David Merryman. “Artificial dams can make it look full but don’t be (fooled). We’re still under still under extreme or severe drought.”

The new riverkeeper and some politicians from both sides of the border support and were present during the Thursday morning announcement.

"Don’t want to fear monger and say, 'Oh yeah, in 10 years this river is going dry up,'” added Merryman. “But I think and I am afraid that if we don’t start and implement a year-round conservation measure that we run that risk.”