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Coastal Water Watch
Join us for Day on the Water Celebration! It's official - Coastal Water Watch and the Cape Fear River Watch are celebrating a new partnership!!! _________________________________________________
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Coastal Water Watch (CWW) and its alliance partners - Cape Fear River Watch (CFRW), Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaborative, and the RIVERKEEPER Alliance - need your support. To join, please see details on the JOIN US page under the brochure that details our mission and activities. Our History Coastal Water Watch (CWW) was organized in 2002, patterned after the Cape Fear River Watch program. The activities over the years have included:
In early 2010, Coastal Water Watch became formally affiliated with the following organizations to collaborate and expand our efforts.
Our Goals The Cape Fear region is comprised of several unique ecosystems that support plant flora found nowhere else in North America. As precious as these natural resources are, they are often a lower priority to roughshod development standards or stricter regulations on water pollution controls. Thus, they are rapidly vanishing and without our vigorous support and strong educational initiatives, may soon be lost. CWW has been dedicated from the beginning to providing integrated solutions for preserving natural resources alongside development. By promoting stringent stormwater controls, eco-tourism, increased riparian buffers, and low-impact development, it is possible to preserve these natural resources in the wake of more homes and increased impervious surfaces. The goal of this website is to provide an educational gateway to learn about the impact of development on local water quality and what can be done to minimize the impact of increased development. Stormwater is the number one source of water pollution in North Carolina. Stormwater runoff provides the transit for silt, oil, pesticides, animal waste, and other hazardous chemicals to flow directly into local waters, often with devastating effects. Sediment, by volume, is the largest pollutant that clouds the water and smothers habitats for fish and plants. The major sources of sediment are agriculture, construction, and forestry operations. Nutrients like phosphates and nitrates can promote excessive algae growth (e.g., algal blooms) as well as affect taste and odor of drinking water. The major sources include urban and agricultural practices and non-point source (NPS) discharges.
Heavy metals, such as mercury, arsenic, lead can impair aquatic ecosystems but also accumulate in the tissue of certain fish rendering them unfit for consumption (e.g., high mercury levels in tuna and swordfish should be avoided by women who are pregnant). Sources include automobiles, paints, leaching of heavy metals from landfills, and industrial spills or discharges. Organic matter, such as leaves, grass clippings, garbage, animal waste, etc. consume dissolved oxygen during decomposition. Major sources include discharges from waste water treatment plants, livestock operations, yard waste, and pet feces. Stormwater, which is also known as non-point source (NPS) pollution, is complex and expensive to manage in a rapidly developing area like the Cape Fear region because you are trying to control both water quantity and water quality in a dynamic environment. It becomes even harder in close proximity to shellfish beds and shrimp nursery areas: a small impact close by can have enormous changes downstream. As growth continues in the Cape Fear region we will likely see the effects of development as increased flooding and decreased water quality from (1) more silt deposits from construction flowing into the local watershed, (2) an increase in impervious surfaces, and (3) increased use of lawn and garden supplies like fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Thus, the target pollutants are sediment, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. If the stormwater systems are not properly designed and optimally maintained the impact will be a further decline of water quality and irreparable damage to already critical ecosystems. However, there are a variety of measures - both large and small - that can have a tremendous impact on improving the quality of stormwater runoff so that the effects of growth are minimized. _________________________ The Solution
The single most effective way to address the problem is through public education of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for stormwater. Thousands of communities have already shown significant improvements to water quality by simple changes in the ways homeowners manage their yards, the ways that businesses operate, and the ways that communities develop. The purpose of this website is to: (1) inform local residents and businesses on the best way to manage stormwater; (2) inform the construction and development community about the BMPs that can be applied during and post-construction; and (3) provide resources for alternative measures that have been demonstrated to have enormous positive impact on water quality. A critical part is ensuring everyone knows what is required per the stormwater ordinances. The other part is letting homeowners and businesses know the many ways on how to reduce runoff from their own property as well as improve the water quality that leaves their property. This website also includes a wealth of information on local water quality; a list of BMPs for everyday activities; and homeowner projects. This site provides key links to other stormwater-related sites for more detailed information. _________________________ How you can help, starting right now As the Cape Fear region continues to develop the percent of impervious surface will increase, driving more stormwater into the streets and adjacent bodies of water. With uncontrolled stormwater - and all the contamination that comes with it - it won't be long before the delicate ecosystems are impacted even more (e.g., altered salinity, algal blooms, fish kills, etc.). Considering a single wooded lot (e.g., 60' x 100') can be entirely cleared and replaced with a house and two-car driveway, that property can have upwards of 75-80% impervious surface when fully built. And if there is no break in impervious surfaces from the structure to the street, the stormwater can quickly add to the problem. For example, one inch of rain from a 1,200 square foot area can generate up to 600 gallons of runoff. That means a 6,000 square foot lot built with 80% impervious surface, or up to 4,800 square feet, will create approximately 2,400 gallons of stormwater runoff for each inch of rain. Multiply that by thousands of new homes in the new few years and you get an idea of the enormity of the problem. As residents of this area we are also responsible for environmental stewardship, particularly when it comes to managing growth. There are already a host of simple things that homeowners and businesses can do to improve both the water quality and reduce the amount of stormwater runoff. That is what this website is dedicated to doing, providing the homeowner, business, and development community the latest information and tools on how to better manage stormwater as the island develops.
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Coastal Water Watch© 2010 |
Toxic substances, such as antifreeze and oil, pesticides, and herbicides threaten
the health of fish and other aquatic life. Fecal coliform
contamination is an indication of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites
from animal waste, which hinder water processing and may render the beach, Davis Canal, or Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)
unsuitable for wading, swimming, or shellfish harvesting. Sources include
malfunctioning waste water treatment facilities, broken sewer lines, failing
septic tanks, and runoff from livestock pens or hog lagoons.
