Thursday, January 26, 2012

Catawba River listed as endangered

The Catawba River basin has landed on another most-endangered-places list, this one from the Southern Environmental Law Center.


The law center, which has offices in Chapel Hill, Asheville and Charleston, has represented environmental advocates and groups for 25 years. Today's release is its fourth annual list of places in the South that face "immediate, potentially irreparable threats" this year.

The Catawba, SELC says, faces threats from potentially toxic coal ash ponds at Duke Energy power plants and disruption of stream flows and fish migration by dams. It depicts water withdrawals that might not leave enough water for downstream communities, and unneeded reservoir projects that promote more water use.

None of this will be new to folks who care about the Catawba. Elevated levels of metals have been found near ash ponds at all seven of Duke's N.C. coal-fired power plants, the Observer reported this week, although it's unclear whether the metals come from ash or natural sources.

Renewal of Duke's federal hydro license to manage the Catawba, meanwhile, has been delayed for three years by conflicts over the effects of dams on the endangered shortnose sturgeon.


The Carolinas battled over water from the Catawba before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case settled in late 2010. More recently, the law center questioned the need for a new water-supply reservoir
that a project co-owned by Union County and Lancaster County, S.C., plans to build.

The national advocacy group American Rivers has also listed the Catawba in its annual endangered-rivers roundup.

North Carolina's Piedmont also made the law center's list. Exploration companies are buying leases to tap natural gas deposits in counties southwest of Raleigh. The law center says drilling at those sites could contaminate water supplies. The gas industry, it says, is pushing state legislators to lift a state ban on the drilling technique, hydraulic fracturing, that could exploit those deposits.

Here's the full list.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only logical solution is to stop residential growth in the region. Sorry- it's the only way to save the river and our only drinking source.

Skippy said...

That's brillant 3:42, maybe you can start with your family? And leave it to this paper to source the Southern Environmental Law Center who only happen to be as far left as it gets. Fair and objective as always.

Anonymous said...

This just in, Bev Perdue has just declared the entire Democrat party endangered.

Anonymous said...

3:42,

Unfortunately, we'll just keep multiplying until the planet's just one big sewer. As long as people interpret "be ye fruitful and multiply", the wrong way, they'll just keep having their blessed little babies. They'll spread out their over-fertilized, manicured, and sterile lawns to the water's edge. If people really did believe in a grand designer, they'd have more respect for what he/she designed instead of just trample all over it and curse those who want to take care of it.

arejaye said...

The Catawba River has been endangered since NC decided to let Duke Power build it's dams. It never works out does it?

Anonymous said...

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Democrats in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable........................................................ 36%
Unfavorable .................................................... 41%
Not sure .......................................................... 23%

Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Republicans in the North Carolina
Legislature?
Favorable........................................................ 27%
Unfavorable .................................................... 47%
Not sure .......................................................... 26%

Doesen't look as if the Republican are liked as much as some think

Adolf said...

We need to raise more rivers in captivity.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 3:42 is exactly right. There are just to many people for the carrying capacity of the land. Mostly due to water.

Unknown said...

I am wondering if there are any types of aquatic plants that have the capacity to leach the metals out of the water? I know plants use certain things in water. Might there be some that can remove these metals?

LowcountryKayaker said...

I'm tired of "Republicans" and "Conservatives" who seem to think that environmental issues are these mysterious environmental issues are just going to go away??

Clearly, you don't give a crap about yourself and the future of America.

Rape the land and let someone else worry about it - the motto of Republicans

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