The Neuse River Basin Water Resources Plan is the first of a new series of documents being developed by the N. C. Division of Water Resources for each of the 17 river basins in the state. The division's scope of work focuses on water quantity related issues statewide. Therefore, these plans will focus on water quantity related issues in each basin. The state divisions of Water Resources and Water Quality are coordinating these plans with the Basinwide Water Quality Plans that evaluate water quality conditions in each river basin.
The Neuse River Basin Water Resources Plan evaluates the water resources of the Neuse River basin. It describes where existing surface water supplies may not be sufficient to meet future water demands for public water systems, identifies where self-supplied industrial operations may face increased challenges meeting their water needs and provides information on the magnitude of impacts to future recreational opportunities on the basin's major reservoirs.
The analysis assesses the ability to satisfy estimated future water demands for the range of hydrologic conditions that occurred in the basin from 1930 to 2008. These evaluations were conducted using the Neuse River Basin Hydrologic Model - a computer based mathematical model that balances inflows and outflows of surface water at specific locations as water moves downstream. The model covers the basin from the headwaters of the Eno, Flat and Little rivers in Durham and Orange counties and then downstream to New Bern, where the Neuse River is influenced by the saltwater and tides of the Pamlico Sound.
The Neuse River Basin Water Resources Plan is intended to serve as a template for future plans. Therefore, your comments and suggestions will help us improve the presentation and content of the document. Please let us know if you find the document useful and informative and any other comments you may have.
Please send your comments to dwr-neuse-staff@lists.ncmail.net