On August 11th, 2006, American Whitewater joined a group of 70 organizations, agencies, and individuals in signing a Settlement Agreement that will shape the management of the Catawba River for the next 30-50 years. The agreement marks the culmination of 3 years of studies and negotiations among a diverse group of stakeholders. This effort included over 300 meetings – and the group logged nearly 58,000 hours and analyzed over 2,500 issues related to the river.
The benefits of the settlement agreement span the entire 220 mile long watershed. “This may be the single most significant community planning event that has occurred in this river basin and the results are going to have a very positive impact on the river and communities along the river for decades to come,” stated Jeff Lineberger, hydro licensing manager for Duke Energy. AW fully agrees, and ultimately FERC agreed and wrote most of the settlement provisions into the federal license. Flows on some reaches began immediately, but flows at Great Falls took years longer as access areas and the boat passage channel needed to be built.
Benefits of the agreement include:
-
Additional Recreational Opportunities: New and enhanced public access areas will create more opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, camping and picnicking. Pre-scheduled water releases for recreational flows create additional canoeing and kayaking opportunities.
-
More Land Available for Recreational Use: More than 2,500 acres of properties owned by Crescent Resources (part of Duke Energy) was dedicated for public recreation and Crescent offered state and local governments more than 3,400 additional acres at reduced prices. Duke Energy also made $9.3 million to $12.3 million available to state agencies to purchase additional land for recreational uses (depending on the length of the new license granted by the FERC).
-
More Information Available on the Lakes and River: Reservoir levels (historical and near-term), water release times, generation schedules and maps to public access areas were enhanced as a result of this agreement. Signs in English, Spanish and international symbols provide additional safety information.
-
Increased Aquatic Species Habitat: Higher flow releases substantially increase aquatic habitat and reintroduce consistent water flows to some parts of the river for the first time in nearly 100 years.
-
Water Quality: Under the agreement, Duke Energy installed new equipment to enhance the quality of water released from hydroelectric plants. Water released from these plants contain increased dissolved oxygen levels which are intended to improve water quality and fish habitat.
American Whitewater is especially proud of our role in the restoration and enhancement of two reaches that contain class I-III+ whitewater suitable for a wide range of river enthusiasts.
Bridgewater Reach: Downstream of Lake James lies a dam release class II whitewater run followed by a longer Class I float trip. The river flows through a forested riparian area and offers an excellent summer boating resource for beginner and intermediate boaters. As a result of the agreement: paddlers and anglers will have 85 days annually on which they will have scheduled and predictable releases at desirable flows, 695 acres of riparian corridor will be protected from development, several new river access areas will be built (including a portage around a dangerous weir), public flow information will be improved, and money will be made available for additional habitat conservation activities.
Great Falls of the Catawba: The remnants of the Great Falls of the Catawba have been dewatered since 1907, but in two years will begin flowing continuously. The falls are actually class II-III rapids featuring some epic play waves, a beautiful and protected river corridor, interesting geology, and a lowland ecosystem uncommon among whitewater rivers. As a result of the agreement the Falls has a new base flow every moment of every day, as well as 22 days of scheduled boating flows on the long channel and 28 days on the short channel. The Falls area is also getting a new state park, significant land conservation, several river access areas, and new flow information. We hope that all this will revitalize the Town of Great Falls, which have been great to work with on this issue. In addition to these two reaches, additional recreational and environmental enhancements will be provided throughout the basin.
Great Falls Artificial Whitewater Channels: American Whitewater pitched an idea to provide water and boat passage over the Great Falls Diversion Dam through a manmade boat chute with a surf wave at the bottom. This idea was panned in negotiations, but was picked back up years later to solve challenges with water delivery into the Long Channel. S2O was brought in to design the channels, and American Whitewater played an active role throughout the process. Now paddlers can paddle from the upstream reservoir into the bypassed reach down one of two channels. This is an engineering feat to say the least.
Special Thanks:
Andrew Lazenby was our star volunteer on the Catawba Project. Andew put in hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of hours of volunteer efforts into this project. He attended countless meetings on our behalf, assisted with flow study organization on all river reaches, and did a superb job. Soon he’ll see his dream of a restored Great Falls come true!
Maurice and Motty Blackburn represented the Carolina Canoe Club and were able to provide a level of dedication that we dream of having on other projects. They partnered with AW to represent paddling interests across the basin, and were recognized at the signing ceremony for likely attending more meetings than any other stakeholder accept Duke – and totally as volunteers.
Keen Footwear and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation provided significant financial support of our efforts on the Catawba River. Keen continues to support our ongoing efforts to bring the agreement to fruition.
Organizations and individuals that signed the Comprehensive Relicensing Agreement include: Alexander County, N.C.; American Whitewater; Area II Soil & Water Conservation Districts; Bowater Incorporated; Burke County, N.C.; Caldwell County, N.C.; Carolina Canoe Club; Catawba County, N.C.; Catawba Indian Nation; Catawba Indian Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office; Catawba Lands Conservancy; Catawba Regional Council of Governments; Catawba Valley Heritage Alliance; Catawba-Wateree Relicensing Coalition; Centralina Council of Governments; Chester Metropolitan District; Citizen Bo Cash; Citizen Frank Hawkins; Citizen Joe Zdenek; Citizen Merlin Perry; Citizen Shirley Greene; Citizen Tim Mead; City of Belmont, N.C.; City of Camden, S.C.; City of Charlotte, N.C.; City of Gastonia, N.C.; City of Hickory, N.C.; City of Morganton, N.C.; City of Mount Holly, N.C.; City of Rock Hill, S.C.; Crescent Resources Inc.; Duke Energy; Duke Power Company LLC; Foothills Conservancy; Gaston County, N.C.; Great Falls Hometown Assn.; Harbortowne Marina; International Paper; Iredell County, N.C.; Kershaw County Conservation District; Kershaw County, S.C.; Lake James Homeowners; Lake Wateree Assn.; Lake Wylie Marine Commission; Lancaster County Water & Sewer; Lincoln County, N.C.; Lugoff-Elgin Water Authority; McDowell County, N.C.; Mecklenburg County, N.C.; Mountain Island Lake Assn.; Mountain Island Lake Marine Commission; N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Division of Water Quality, Division of Water Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, and Division of Forest Resources);N.C. Wildlife Federation; N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; R and N Marina; S.C. Department of Archives and History; S.C. Department of Natural Resources; S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; S.C. Wildlife Federation; South Carolina Electric & Gas – Wateree Steam Plant; Springs Global Industries; Town of Davidson, N.C.; Town of Great Falls, S.C.; Town of Valdese, N.C.; Trout Unlimited; Union County, N.C.; Wateree Homeowners Assn.; Western Piedmont Council of Governments; York County Culture and Heritage Commission; and York County, S.C.
Those not signing include: American Rivers; Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation; Clean Water S.C.; Citizen Cynthia Wood; Citizen Don Privett; Citizen John Carter; Citizen Sarah Williams; Lake James Environmental Groups; S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control; S.C. Coastal Conservation League; Town of Cornelius, N.C.; U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Western N.C. Alliance.