Albemarle-Pamlico Drainage Study (Cycle II)

The Albemarle-Pamlico Drainage study, as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment, follows a nationally consistent study design. This national design allows comparisons among river basins and regionalization of results.

The goals of the NAWQA program are:

1. Status: Assess the status of water quality,
2. Trends: Assess trends in water quality,
3. Understanding: Understand the factors that affect water quality.

The elements of the design of the 2001 (Cycle II) sampling and analysis program for the ALBE can, therefore, be categorized under these goals:

Status

• Eight sites were assessed for mercury in water, fish, and sediment (2002).
• Thirty wells in the Castle Hayne aquifer were sampled for nutrients, pesticides, trace elements, and volatile organic compounds (2002-2003).
• A Neuse River water-supply intake will be sampled 1-2 times a month for nutrients, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, and bacteria (2002-04).

Trends

• The Neuse River at Kinston, Contentnea Creek at Hookerton, Swift Creek near Apex, and Van Swamp near Hoke are sampled 1-2 times a month for nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. These are long-term stations to show trends in water quality over time (decades).
• Twenty-five wells near Coastal Plain agricultural fields were sampled for nutrients, pesticides, trace elements, and volatile organic compounds (2002). First sampled in 1995, the wells will be resampled in the future to detect long-term trends in ground-water quality.
• Multiple reaches at each of the surface-water trend sites were assessed for fish, aquatic macroinvertebrate populations, and habitat (2002); these sites will be resampled in the future to detect long-term trends in stream fish and invertebrate communities.

Understanding

• Thirty small basins, representing an urban land-use gradient (ULUG) from undeveloped to fully developed in the Piedmont urban crescent were selected, instrumented with stage recorders, and will be assessed for fish, aquatic macroinvertebrate populations, habitat, and water chemistry (2002-2003).
• A large-scale model (SPARROW) was developed that uses basin and nutrient source characteristics, routing, and nutrient processing to predict nitrogen and phosphorus loads in the Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear Rivers. The model will be recalibrated and expanded to include recent data in the Roanoke River and additional sites in the Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear Rivers (2002-2004).
• A series of 15 wells along a flow path located in the Little Contentnea Creek basin will be resampled for nutrients (2003). The water will be age-dated. A contaminant transport model will be developed.

The four principal sites in the surface-water trend network are regularly sampled (approximately monthly) to evaluate seasonal and long-term trends and to characterize the types of chemicals found in the basins. Van Swamp at Hoke drains a forested swamp in the outer Coastal Plain and represents a minimally developed watershed. The Neuse River at Kinston, draining more than 2,700 square miles, integrates drainage from forested, agricultural, and urban lands. Contentnea Creek at Hookerton drains 740 square miles and is composed of more than 50-percent agricultural land. Swift Creek in near Apex, which drains 21 square miles, was selected to evaluate changes in a rapidly urbanizing basin; the population in Swift Creek increased about 62 percent between 1992 and 2000.

Summary of ALBE NAWQA Cycle II Investigations