How North Carolina is Affected By Water Pollution

HOW NORTH CAROLINA IS EFFECTED ECONOMICALLY BY WATER POLLUTION About 80% of the State’s surveyed freshwater rivers and streams have good water quality that fully supports aquatic life uses, 17% have fair water quality that partially supports aquatic life uses, and 3% have poor water quality that does not support aquatic life uses. Ten percent of the surveyed rivers do not fully support swimming. The major sources of impairment are agriculture (responsible for 53% of the impaired river …showed first 75 words of 408 total…

…showed last 75 words of 408 total…quality in North Carolina was primarily evaluated using physical and chemical data collected by the Division of Environmental Management (DEM) from a statewide fixed-station network and biological assessments. These include macroinvertebrate (aquatic insect) community surveys, fish community structure analyses, phytoplankton analyses, bioassays, and limnological review of lakes and watersheds. Other sources of information were point source monitoring data, shellfish closure reports, lake trophic state studies, and reports prepared by other local, State, and Federal agencies.