Catawba-Wateree

Duke Energy shares a commitment with water users in the basin to ensuring that an abundant water supply is available to communities along the river. Conserving water is a shared responsibility among all water users, including individual households, particularly during drought conditions.

As part of Duke Energy’s Catawba-Wateree hydro relicensing process, a partnership was created to address large water users. This group developed the low inflow protocol (LIP) to establish procedures for reductions in water use during periods of low inflow to the Catawba-Wateree basin.

The goal is to delay the point at which the Project’s available water storage inventory is fully depleted. While there are no actions that can guarantee that the basin won’t experience operability limitations due to low reservoir levels or stream flows, the LIP provides additional time for precipitation to restore stream flow, reservoir levels and groundwater levels to normal ranges.

The Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group consists of large water users/withdrawers. The group has agreed on the conditions set forth in the LIP and will re-evaluate and modify the LIP periodically. Members include:

• North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (including Division of Water Resources and Division of Water Quality)
• North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
• United States Geological Survey
• Owners of large water intake structures located on the Catawba-Wateree Project or main stem of the river
• Owners of large water intake structures located on any tributary stream within the basin that ultimately drains to Lake Wateree
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
• Duke Energy

In the LIP, drought stages are determined by the following three indicators:

• How much water is in the reservoirs
• How much water is flowing into the reservoirs
• The U.S. Drought Monitor, a government site that indicates areas experiencing a drought and the drought’s severity

There are five stages, from stage 0 (a watch) to stage 4 (an emergency), and specific actions are detailed for each stage. Duke Energy performs a monthly evaluation of the three indicators and issues a report to all large water users along the Catawba, indicating which stage the basin is in and what actions should be taken to help conserve water.