Quantifying Land-Use Change Impacts on Catawba River Basin Water Supply through Economic Valuation
This project will add an economic analysis to a research model that will determine the impacts of various land uses on water quantity and quality throughout the Catawba River Basin, and identify priority areas for source water protection through land conservation. The costs and benefits of conserving priority land parcels will be evaluated.
Counties Impacted:
North Carolina
- Avery
- Burke
- Caldwell
- McDowell
- Catawba
- Alexander
- Lincoln
- Iredell
- Gaston
- Mecklenburg
- Union
South Carolina
- York
- Chester
- Lancaster
- Fairfield
- Kershaw
The study is a great collaboration among land trusts in the Catawba-Wateree Basin (Foothills Conservancy, Catawba Lands Conservancy, The Conservation Fund) and the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group to better define land and water conservation actions we can undertake collectively to protect and maintain the Catawba-Wateree River as a healthy and reliable source of water for generations to come.
- Andrew Kota, Associate Director
