Ecological data collected in the Santee River basin and coastal drainages, North and South Carolina, 1996–98

As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, ecological investigations were conducted in 23 reaches of 16 streams in the Santee River Basin and Coastal Drainages study unit in North and South Carolina during 1996-98. Habitat characteristics, such as stream width and depth, bank composition, bank vegetative cover, stream shading by overhanging vegetation, and

streambed composition were recorded. Algal and benthic invertebrate communities were sampled

using quantitative and qualitative techniques. These data will provide information needed to: (1) support findings of the effects of human landuse activities on water quality by augmenting or enhancing physical and chemical water-quality data, (2) provide a basic overview of aquatic community structure in selected stream reaches in the study unit, and (3) provide a means for comparing aquatic communities in subsequent years of the assessment program.