Lower Cape Fear River Program

A collaboration of academia, government, industry, and the public, the program is located at and administered by the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Program objectives are to develop an understanding of the fundamental scientific processes shaping and controlling the ecology of the Cape Fear River system and provide a mechanism for information exchange and public education.

Numerous physical, chemical, and biological measurements are collected at thirty-four different sites on a regular basis so biologists, chemists, physicists, and geologists will be able to understand freshwater, estuarine, and nearshore marine processes in the Cape Fear River basin.

This research will complement and refine the current basin-wide management plans being developed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

Currently, a program in the middle Cape Fear River basin is performing similar monitoring activities and a program in the upper Cape Fear River basin is in the planning stages. With the commencement of monitoring in all three basins, regulators will have comprehensive scientific based information with which to form educated decisions regarding activities in the Cape Fear River basin.

The Cape Fear River winds for 200 miles through the heart of the North Carolina piedmont, crossing the coastal plain, and empties into the great Atlantic Ocean near Southport. The river begins near Greensboro and Winston-Salem as two rivers, the Deep River and the Haw River.

These two rivers converge near Moncure to form the Cape Fear River. The Black River joins the Cape Fear 15 miles above Wilmington, and the Northeast Cape Fear River enters the system at Wilmington. The 35 miles of river between Wilmington and the ocean is called the Cape Fear Estuary because of the tidal influence and saline waters. This area of the river is extremely important for saltwater animals because of its function as a nursery for juvenile fish, crabs, and shrimp.

The Cape Fear River system is North Carolina’s largest river system whose basin covers 9,000 square miles and encompasses streams in 29 of the state’s 100 counties and is the most industrialized of all of North Carolina's rivers.

The river is an important natural resource that supports many uses including:

• Industry
• Transportation
• Recreation
• Drinking water
• Aesthetic Enjoyment

The mission of the Cape Fear River Program is to develop an understanding of processes which control and influence the Cape Fear River and to provide a mechanism for information exchange and public education. Specific objectives include:

• Develop, implement, and manage a basin-wide coordinated physical, chemical, and biological water quality monitoring program. Point, non-point, and naturally occurring sources will be considered in developing the monitoring plan.
• Interact with regulatory agencies, academic institutions, local industries, and other groups to determine additional studies and analysis needed to develop an effective and successful management plan. Initiate the studies and assist in securing funding to conduct the research.
• Develop scientific information to provide environmental education about the basin targeting point and non-point source contributors and produce reports to identify changes or trends.
• Develop, consolidate, and maintain a data base on the Cape Fear River Basin, including historical and current data, and made data available to public and private requesters including regulatory agencies.

Benthic monitoring for the Lower Cape Fear River Program, conducted by the UNCW Benthic Ecology Laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Martin Posey and Mr. Troy Alphin, began in spring 1996. This monitoring effort, which focuses on the upper oligohaline estuary down through the lower polyhaline estuary, targets the benthic infauna (sediment grabs). Other projects in the Benthic Ecology Laboratory compliment this sampling effort and include epibenthic trawls and juvenile Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) research in the estuary.

The benthic monitoring component has four major long-term objectives:

• Characterize the benthic communities in the Lower Cape Fear River and compare them with other river-dominated estuaries to gain a first-order assessment of estuarine health.
• Determine seasonal, annual and spatial patterns of variability.
• Establish correlations between benthic abundances and physical measures.
• Establish a baseline for detecting changes in the estuarine community through examination of changes in abundances of specific indicator taxa and eventual application of standard benthic indices.

Monitoring & Research

• Station Map and Descriptions
• Fin Fish Monitoring

Additional Web Sites

• Cape Fear River Basin Coalitions Monitoring Database
• Advisory Board and Technical Committee

Related Web Sites

• UNCW Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
• Links