Local water quality

Local governments will need to customize this Web page based on local water quality conditions. The basinwide plans produced by the NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ) are a great source for gathering information about your local water quality. DWQ prepares basinwide plans for each of the 17 major river basins in North Carolina. The plans are updated every five years and can be accessed on DWQ’s Basinwide Planning Web site.

Here is a suggestion about how to use the Basinwide Plan. After you have identified which of the 17 river basins contains your jurisdiction, click on the most recent basinwide plan on the basinwide planning home page. Next, use the map in Section A, Chapter 2 of the basinwide plan to determine the subbasin(s) that contain your jurisdiction. Then, go to the appropriate subbasin chapters in Section B - Water Quality Data and Information by Subbasin.

Section B will explain the monitoring that DWQ has performed within your jurisdiction, the current health of your local streams and any recommendations that DWQ may have for improving water quality in the future.

Being aware of your local water quality issues can greatly enhance your public education program. Your citizens will be a lot more interested in protecting the streams in their neighborhoods and parks than they will in the whole river basin. If you do have local water quality problems, you will be able to communicate these to your citizens and get them interested in reducing stormwater pollution.