NOTE: Due to the size of this file, it can only be downloaded as a File Geodatabase.This statewide shapefile contains the freshwater surface water classifications for all named streams in North Carolina. This data was first uploaded on March 6, 2015 and originally pulled from BIMS in November 2014. To learn more about what classifications are, see the Classifications and Standards/Rule Review Branch website. Download this dataset from the DEQ Open Data PageThe Tile Layer for this Feature Layer is DWR Surface Water Classifications.Attributes:BIMS_INDEX: Index number BIMS_Names: Stream Name BIMS_Descr: Description of stream segment (from - to) BIMS_Class: Surface Water Classification BIMS_Date: Date the classification was given to that segment ClassURL: Link to the Classifications website that defines each classification Name: River Basin Contacts:Data Contact: Chris VentaloroLayer/Service Contact: Melanie Williams Updates: 05/24/2016: Changed the URL for the classifications page; fixed the Clear Creek (FBR) line segment; re-uploaded this as a new feature service with the ability to overwrite. 6/1/2017: Geometry for Index Numbers 18-(71) of the Cape Fear River and 18-88-1 of Walden Creek were missing from the feature service. The geometry was corrected with the existing file on local servers and the online feature service was overwritten. This feature layer can be found in the NC Surface Water Classification map application.

U.S. National Atlas Water Feature Lines represents the linear water features (for example, aqueducts, canals, intracoastal waterways, and streams) of the United States.

This geodatabase contains a comparable set of community fish samples from 12 sources, spanning the conterminous United States. The data were compiled through efforts of Michigan State University for the 2010 National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) and with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Aquatic GAP Program. All fish sample locations were verified and linked to flowlines of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 1 (NHDPlusV1) using the COMID identifier. Fish records were provided by the following organizations and agencies: USGS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Kentucky Division of Water, Missouri Department of Conservation, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, North Carolina Division of Water Quality, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and Little Tennessee Watershed Association. These datasets met the following criteria: (1) protocols were focused on sampling the entire community; (2) all samples were collected by single-pass electrofishing (3) samples were collected between 1990-2010, (4) samples had sufficient descriptive information to determine location of sample. Please use the following citation: Esselman, P., D.M. Infante, D. Wieferich, A. Cooper, L. Wang, W. Taylor, R. Tingley, D. Thornbrugh, J. Ross, and J. Fenner. (May 2013) National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) 2010 Community Fish Data. National Fish Habitat Partnership Data System. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.5066/F7QN64RG

This layer contains the EPA approved final overall 2012 Integrated Report or 305(b) list category data for all named streams in North Carolina. This data was originally developed by Cam McNutt and uploaded 12/19/2014 by Melanie Williams. The purpose of this layer is to show the overall Integrated Report category and basic stream information as related to Assessment Units. Individual parameter categories can be found in the DWR 2012 IR Parameter Cat layer.Attributes:AU_Name: stream nameAU_Descrip: stream segment descriptionNC_Basin: river basin acronymAU_Lengtha: segment lengthAU_Units: units of lengthBIMS_Class: fresh water stream classificationO_IR_Cat: Overall Integrated Report CategoryO_USR: Overall Use Support RatingAU_Num*: assessment unitData Contact: Cam McNuttLayer Contact: Melanie Williams

This layer contains a portion the EPA approved final overall Integrated Report or 305(b) list category for named streams in North Carolina. This portion is limited to just category 4 and 5 waters. This data was originally developed by Cam McNutt and uploaded 2/12/2015. The purpose of this layer is to show the overall category 4 and 5 IR streams and basic stream information as related to Assessment Units. Individual parameter categories can be found in the DWR 2014 Integrated Report Parameter Cat layer.Attributes:AU_Number (assessment unit)X014_AU_NU (assessment unit)AU Name (stream name)AU Descrip (stream segment description)NC Basin (river basin acronym)AU Lengtha (segment length)AU Units (units of size)AU Type (C - Creek, S - Stream, R - River)BIMS Index (Stream Index number)BIMS Class (fresh water stream classification)OIRC (Overall Integrated Report Category)Data Contact: Cam McNuttLayer Contact: Melanie Williams

This dataset reports concentrations of 6 target trace metals (copper, zinc, nickel, lead, chromium, and selenium) in unfiltered water, emergent aquatic adult insects (by family), biofilm mats (predominately algae), and tree roots submerged under stream water. Biological and water samples were collected from three streams in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, USA: a wastewater dominated site (Ellerbe Creek, near the USGS gage at Glen Road ), a stormwater dominated site (Ellerbe Creek, near the USGS gage on Club Blvd), and a stream draining a predominately forested watershed (New Hope Creek, near a StreamPULSE site at Hollow Rock Preserve). This data was submitted for publication in a manuscript that explores how metals are transported by aquatic emergent insects from stream ecosystems into terrestrial food webs.

Trace metals are essential for microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes occurring in anoxic wetland soils and stream bed sediments, such as denitrification, methanogenesis, and mercury methylation. Low availability of these elements may potentially inhibit key components of anaerobic carbon and nitrogen cycling and contaminant transformation. The solid-phase speciation of trace metals likely plays an important role in controlling their bioavailability. Metal speciation is well studied in contaminated soils and sediments as well as those naturally elevated in trace metals. However, less is known regarding the chemical forms of trace metals in systems having concentrations similar to geological background levels, the very settings where metal limitations may be most prevalent. We have investigated trace metal concentrations, extractability, and solid-phase speciation in three freshwater subsurface aquatic systems: marsh wetland soils, riparian wetland soils, and the sediments of a streambed. Data are provided for marsh wetland soils at Argonne National Laboratory, riparian wetland soils in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory, and stream bed sediments from East Fork Poplar Creek near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Soil and sediment elemental abundances, mineralogy, and extractable nutrients as well as dissolved major elements, anions, trace metals, and nutrients in the overlying surface waters are provided. In addition, the results of sequential chemical extraction for the trace metals cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc from the soils and sediment are reported as well as X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra in these materials are reported. To aid interpretation of these data, XANES spectra of sulfur in the soils and sediments as well as both XANES and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra of iron in these materials are reported. The data package also includes the XANES spectra of reference standards and a potential interferent in the measurements. All data are provided in text-based CSV format with header sections indicating the data contained in each file and the corresponding units. Note that "u" is used in place of Greek lower case mu to indicate the micro prefix on units.

This layer contains the EPA approved final overall Integrated Report or 305(b) list category for all named streams in North Carolina. This data was originally developed by Cam McNutt and uploaded 2/12/2015. The purpose of this layer is to show the overall IR category and basic stream information as related to Assessment Units. Individual parameter categories can be found in the DWR 2014 IR Parameter Cat layer.Attributes:AU_Number (assessment unit)AU Name (stream name)AU Descrip (stream segment description)NC Basin (river basin acronym)AU Lengtha (segment length)AU Units (units of length)AU Type (C - Creek, S - Stream, R - River)BIMS Index (Index number)BIMS Class (fresh water stream classification)Mainstem_N (Drains to this mainstem)OIRC (Overall Integrated Report Category)Subbasin (8-Digit Subbasin Name)Data Contact: Cam McNuttLayer Contact: Melanie WilliamsThis feature layer can be found in the NC Surface Water Classification map application.

Metals occur in all ecosystems, although their concentrations vary depending on their natural geologic conditions and surrounding human activities. In addition to metals intrinsically present from the geology of a particular system, metals can enter environmental systems from a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic sources, such as sediment re-suspension, mining operations, industrial processes, agricultural activities, and atmospheric deposition. While metals can be toxic at high concentrations, some metals serve as essential micronutrients for biogeochemical processes. Metal transport and availability in engineered and natural water systems depend on processes of adsorption/desorption, oxidation/reduction, dissolution/precipitation, and ligand complexation. Insights into the speciation of metals and their bioavailability will also help advance understanding of the roles of metals in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. We conducted batch experiments under anoxic conditions on soils and sediments collected from three different natural aquatic systems to understand their response to influxes of dissolved Cu, Ni and Zn. While soils and sediments from all sites could strongly bind added trace metals, there were substantial differences in trace metal uptake trends between different sites, especially for Cu. There was no distinct correlation between trace metal uptake and the total organic matter, iron, and sulfur content present in the samples. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that the speciation of the freshly added metals taken up by the solids differs substantially from the speciation of the metals originally present in unamended samples. Cu sulfides dominated speciation at low loadings (1 µmol/g), whereas complexation to thiol groups and formation of metallic Cu governed speciation at high loadings (10 µmol/g). For Ni and Zn, adsorption to mineral surfaces and organic matter governed their speciation in materials from most sites. This study suggests that the background speciation of metals in natural aquatic systems is a poor predictor of the speciation and lability of metals introduced to terrestrial aquatic systems from anthropogenic or natural processes. Our findings imply that geochemical processes controlling trace metal speciation may vary considerably with metal loading in different natural systems. Data are provided for marsh wetland soils at Argonne National Laboratory (Marsh 1 and Marsh 2), riparian wetland soils (Riparian 1 and Riparian 2) in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory, and stream bed sediments (Stream 1 and Stream 2) from East Fork Poplar Creek near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Data package includes the results of trace metal uptake experiments conducted on the selected sites for determining their capacity to immobilize metals under different loadings. XANES spectra for Cu, Ni, ad Zn at different loadings are included in the package. The abundance of different trace metal species obtained using linear combination fitting in ATHENA are also included in the data.

Understanding habitat use and nursery areas of larval fish is a key component to managing and conserving riverine fishes. Yet, freshwater researchers often focus only on adult fishes, resulting in a limited understanding of the habitat requirements for the early life stages of freshwater fishes. The goal of this study was to quantify the larval fish microhabitat use of three fish families in Twelvemile Creek, a fifth-order tributary of Lake Hartwell (Savannah River basin) in the Piedmont ecoregion of South Carolina, USA. We used handheld dipnets to sample larval fishes along 20 equidistant transects spaced 10 m apart weekly from May to July 2021 along a 200 m stream reach. We also collected microhabitat data at each larval fish capture location. Most captured individuals were in the metalarval stage and were identified to the family level. A partial distance-based redundancy analysis indicated that water velocity contributed to changes in larval fish assemblage structure. Larval fishes occupied a subset of the available habitat that was characterized by low water velocity, non-Podostemum substrate, and shallow habitats close to the shore or bed rock structure. We also detected temporal patterns in larval fish counts, with peak Percidae and Leuciscidae counts in late July and the highest Catostomidae counts in late May–early June. Our results suggest that larval fishes select habitats with low water velocity and shallow habitats close to shore microhabitat characteristics, and that riffle-pool sequences may serve as a nursery habitat for Percidae, Catostomidae and Leuciscidae metalarvae.

Dataset revised on October 15, 2021. This revision adds sulfur and iron X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra for the wetland soils and stream sediments from the field areas. It also renames the sample locations in a way that is more intuitive to readers of the companion paper that is under review. Finally, the data filenames and organization have been updated in their labeling to parallel the data sources in the associated paper. The abstract text and methods were also revised to reflect the data that was added to the dataset.Trace metals are essential for microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes occurring in anoxic wetland soils and stream bed sediments, such as denitrification, methanogenesis, and mercury methylation. Low availability of these elements may potentially inhibit key components of anaerobic carbon and nitrogen cycling and contaminant transformation. The solid-phase speciation of trace metals likely plays an important role in controlling their bioavailability. Metal speciation is well studied in contaminated soils and sediments as well as those naturally elevated in trace metals. However, less is known regarding the chemical forms of trace metals in systems having concentrations similar to geological background levels, the very settings where metal limitations may be most prevalent. We have investigated trace metal concentrations, extractability, and solid-phase speciation in three freshwater subsurface aquatic systems: marsh wetland soils, riparian wetland soils, and the sediments of a streambed.Data are provided for marsh wetland soils at Argonne National Laboratory, riparian wetland soils in the Tims Branch watershed at Savannah River National Laboratory, and stream bed sediments from East Fork Poplar Creek near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Soil and sediment elemental abundances, mineralogy, and extractable nutrients as well as dissolved major elements, anions, trace metals, and nutrients in the overlying surface waters are provided. In addition, the results of sequential chemical extraction for the trace metals cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc from the soils and sediment are reported as well as X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra in these materials are reported. To aid interpretation of these data, XANES spectra of sulfur in the soils and sediments as well as both XANES and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra of iron in these materials are reported. The data package also includes the XANES spectra of reference standards and a potential interferent in the measurements. All data are provided in text-based CSV format with header sections indicating the data contained in each file and the corresponding units. Note that "u" is used in place of Greek lower case mu to indicate the micro prefix on units.

A die-off of freshwater mussels in 1990, attributed to anticholinesterase pesticide contamination of a North Carolina stream, has led the National Biological Service and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to explore the development of biomonitoring programs using cholinesterase activity to assess the threat of anticholinesterase pesticides to freshwater mussels. However, background information such as "normal" cholinesterase activities and basic biochemical properties of the cholinesterases present in mussels is extremely limited. Early attempts to identify baseline cholinesterase activities for field-collected eastern elliptio (Elliptio complanata) have been plagued by high levels of variation in activities measured in mussels exposed to the same environmental conditions. The objectives of this study were two-fold: 1) to elucidate and reduce this variability through the characterization of the cholinesterases involved and the refinement of assay protocols, and 2) to continue for a second year the biomonitoring of cholinesterase activities in E. complanata in the area of the Tar River basin, North Carolina, where the die-off occurred. Enzyme characterization studies discovered that cholinesterase activities in crude homogenates of adductor muscle demonstrated inhibition with increasing substrate concentrations, preferred acetylthiocholine as a substrate over butyryl- and propionylthiocholine, and was not significantly inhibited by a specific butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor, suggesting that the predominately active enzyme in adductor muscle tissue is acetylcholinesterase. Minor improvements to the assay protocols did not lower the overall variation in activities of field samples. Coefficients of variation for each collection event still ranged from 24.12% to 65.46%. However, despite the large intra-site variation in ChE activities, the Hilliardston collection site, located near the 1990 die-off site, did reveal a significantly (p < 0.05) lower average cholinesterase activity (94.41 + 46.05 umoles substrate hydrolyzed/min/g protein) than the Berea reference site (141.20 + 58.36 umoles substrate/min/g protein). Evidence was insufficient to conclude that the decrease in cholinesterase activity at the die-off site was due to anticholinesterase agents. It is suggested that the variation in cholinesterase activities is mainly influenced by characteristics of the individual rather than measured water quality parameters. These characteristics are discussed along with recommendations for improving the biomonitoring program.

SECTION 50-5-80. Dividing line between salt and fresh water on rivers. The dividing line between salt water and freshwater on the rivers listed is defined in this section, and all waters of the rivers and their tributaries, streams, and estuaries lying seaward of the dividing lines are considered salt waters, and all waters lying landward or upstream from all dividing lines are considered freshwaters for purposes of licensing and regulating commercial and recreational fishing. Except as otherwise provided below, the saltwater/freshwater dividing line is U.S. Highway 17: (1) On Savannah River the dividing line is the abandoned Seaboard Railroad track bed located approximately one and three?fourths miles upstream from the U.S. Highway 17A bridge. (2) Wright River is salt water for its entire length. (3) On Ashepoo River the dividing line is the old Seaboard Railroad track bed. (4) On New River the dividing line is at Cook's Landing. (5) Wallace River, Rantowles Creek, Long Branch Creek, and Shem Creek are salt water for their entire lengths. (6) On Edisto River the dividing line is the abandoned Seaboard Railroad track bed near Matthews Canal Cut. (7) On Ashley River the dividing line is the confluence of Popper Dam Creek directly across from Magnolia Gardens. (8) On Cooper River the dividing line is the seaward shoreline of Old Back River at the confluence of Old Back River downstream from Bushy Park Reservoir. (9) Wando River is salt water for its entire length. (10) On the Intracoastal Waterway in Horry County the dividing line is the bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway at the intersection of S.C. Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 17.

Reason for SelectionMigratory fish presence reflects uninterrupted connections between freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems. Aquatic connectivity benefits diadromous fish and is considered a high priority for the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Larger diadromous fish, like sturgeon, are often more sensitive to disruptions in aquatic connectivity. Smaller fish can make better use of fish ladders and other fish passage measures than larger fish. Input Data

  Southeast Aquatic Connectivity Assessment Project (SEACAP); see the final report for more information

SEACAP developed linear spatial data on the presence of priority diadromous species. These layers are modified versions of the NHDPlus Version 2. These data were altered to contain presence of Alabama shad using data from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (produced for the ASMFC by the Biodiversity and Spatial Information Center at North Carolina State University, Alexa McKerrow), and expert knowledge of the SEACAP Workgroup.

SEACAP also developed a functional river network layer (final SEACAP report, page 9). A functional river network is defined by those stream reaches that are accessible to a hypothetical fish within that network. The functional river network is defined by lines (streams). SEACAP also calculated “functional catchments,” which are polygons that represent the catchment area that is associated with each of those functional networks.

Note: A catchment is the local drainage area of a specific stream segment based on the surrounding elevation. Catchments are defined based on surface water features, watershed boundaries, and elevation data. It can be difficult to conceptualize the size of a catchment because they vary significantly in size based on the length of a particular stream segment and its surrounding topography—as well as the level of detail used to map those characteristics. To learn more about catchments and how they’re defined, check out these resources:

An article from USGS explaining the differences between various NHD products
The glossary at the bottom of this tutorial for an EPA water resources viewer, which defines some key terms

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Gulf Sturgeon Critical Habitat
Estimated Floodplain Map of the Conterminous U.S. from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) EnviroAtlas; see this factsheet for more information; download the data 

The EPA Estimated Floodplain Map of the Conterminous U.S. displays “...areas estimated to be inundated by a 100-year flood (also known as the 1% annual chance flood). These data are based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year flood inundation maps with the goal of creating a seamless floodplain map at 30-m resolution for the conterminous United States. This map identifies a given pixel’s membership in the 100-year floodplain and completes areas that FEMA has not yet mapped” (EPA 2018).

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD), accessed 8-11-2020: HUC6s, HUC12s; download the data
Base Blueprint 2022 extent
Southeast Blueprint 2023 extent

Mapping Steps

Combine all the linework for Gulf Sturgeon using the ArcPy Data Management Merge function. This includes line data from SEACAP and the NOAA critical habitat. Add and calculate a field showing that these are sturgeon lines.
Combine all the linework for the Alabama shad, American shad, or striped bass from SEACAP using the ArcPy Data Management Merge function. Add and calculate a field showing these lines represent the above species. 
Assign the values from the two sets of linework above to HUC12s using two separate ArcPy Analysis Spatial Join functions.
Add and calculate a new field. If it intersects a sturgeon line, give it a value of 2. Otherwise, if it intersects the other species linework, give it a value of 1.
Covert the HUC12s from polygons to a 30 m raster using the field above.
Convert the polygon layers from the Gulf sturgeon critical habitat to 30 m rasters and give those pixels a value of 2.
Combine the two rasters above using the ArcPy Spatial Analyst Cell Statistic “MAX” function.
Clip the resulting layer to the EPA estimated floodplain. 
Use the HUC6 layer to remove from the resulting raster areas outside the Gulf drainage where those 4 species ranges occur. The Atlantic drainages are represented in the Blueprint by the Atlantic Migratory Fish Habitat Indicator.
Use the HUC6 layer to add zero values to the above raster representing the Gulf range of the 4 species listed above. Zero values are intended to help users better understand the extent of this indicator and make it perform better in online tools.
Clip to the spatial extent of Base Blueprint 2023.
As a final step, clip to the spatial extent of Southeast Blueprint 2023.

Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is available in the Southeast Blueprint Data Download under > 6_Code. Final indicator values Indicator values are assigned as follows: 2 = Presence of Gulf sturgeon 1 = Presence of Alabama shad, American shad, or striped bass 0 = Not identified as Gulf migratory fish habitat (east of the Mississippi River) Known Issues

This indicator does not account for smaller dams/culverts that serve as barriers to fish passage.
Where the SEACAP linear spatial data interests a dam, the indicator can extend to reservoirs that are not accessible to fish due to fish passage barriers (e.g., Ross R. Barnett Reservoir in MS).
The EPA Estimated Floodplain layer sometimes misses the small, linear connections made by artificial canals, especially when they go through areas that wouldn’t naturally be part of the floodplain. As a result, some areas (like lakes) that are connected via canals may appear to be disconnected, but still receive high scores.
While this indicator generally includes the open water area of reservoirs, some open water portions of reservoirs are missing from the estimated floodplain dataset.
Estuaries where Gulf sturgeon are not present are often underprioritized because data for the other species do not extend into the estuaries.
This indicator does not account for instream habitat quality, which can also be a barrier to fish passage.
This indicator likely underestimates the value of some areas for American eel. That species is not included in the indicator due to a lack of integrated regionwide data depicting how far upstream American eels have been observed.

Disclaimer: Comparing with Older Indicator Versions There are numerous problems with using Southeast Blueprint indicators for change analysis. Please consult Blueprint staff if you would like to do this (email hilary_morris@fws.gov). Literature Cited Martin, E. H, Hoenke, K., Granstaff, E., Barnett, A., Kauffman, J., Robinson, S. and Apse, C.D. 2014. SEACAP: Southeast Aquatic Connectivity Assessment Project: Assessing the ecological impact of dams on Southeastern rivers. The Nature Conservancy, Eastern Division Conservation Science, Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership. [https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SEACAP_Report.pdf].

EPA EnviroAtlas. 2018. Estimated Floodplain Map of the Conterminous U.S. [https://enviroatlas.epa.gov/enviroatlas/DataFactSheets/pdf/Supplemental/EstimatedFloodplains.pdf].