From the North Carolina Mountains to the South Carolina Piedmont, the Catawba river flows some 225 miles through 26 counties, providing drinking water for 2.5 million people and electricity for 3.7 million homes. The Catawba River works to serve the people of its basin well, but it seems basin has begun turn away from its care.

Creeks and streams flow freely into the Catawba on every stretch of the river. Protecting these streams is vitally important to protecting the Catawba River. These smaller waterways are not as visible as the mighty Catawba. Streams can snake through a downtown, subdivision, or park unseen and forgotten. Quickly, stream care and protection have been left to the wayside.

County and City governments must move to place their stream’s protection at the forefront of new policy decisions. By protecting, cleaning, and conserving the streams that flow right through your downtown, backyard, or favorite dog park, we can quickly change the health of the Catawba River. Litter in city parks, disturbed soil from construction projects, and any other minor pollutants becomes major as quickly as rainstorms can sweep them into the streams.

We are writing you today to ask for expanded stream care action from our local government. This is not just as simple as placing more trashcans in city parks, but that is a major step in this project. We are asking out legislators to implement broad and swift ordinances and actions to protect and care for our streams.

Simple action, like increased trash cans mentioned above, can quickly change the health of your local streams. More interventional action is also needed. Strong stormwater runoff mitigation should be common practice on any new construction. Stream bank restoration—the fixing of incised and unhealthy stream banks—should see increased funding at the local level. Stream care management should be integrated into any city or county park maintenance plans. By protecting, caring for, and actively cleaning streams that have become afterthoughts of local ecology and life, we can quickly see an overall increase in the health of the Catawba River.