Nittanym’s Weblog

by Thomas Penders Washington,  NC                                                                                                                                                                September 30,2007

While the State of North Carolina is suffering with drought conditions and a severe rainfall deficit, the people of Washington, Beaufort County, have not had to change any of the habits of their lives on the Pamlico River.

Washington, North Carolina, called Little Washington, lies on the shores of the Pamlico River. The County is bisected by the River as it makes its way east to the Pamlico Sound. Above the Route 17 Highway Bridge into Downtown Washington the River is called the Tar. The Tar Pamlico has its origins northwest of town where streams flow together and travel south through Tarboro and Greenville before coming to downtown Washington.

Washington is a river town and its history has been intertwined with that of its waters.

Over the past year exceptionally dry conditions have seized much of the State of North Carolina. In early September Governor Michael Easley issued a state-wide appeal for voluntary water restriction. By mid-September almost fifty percent of the residents of the State were living under mandatory water restrictions with stiff penalties for violators. A press release by the US Geological Service on August 31 announced that stream flows on the Tar River at Tarboro were the lowest recorded for an August in the 110 years of record keeping. The City of Rocky Mount recently issued a mandatory restriction on water use and sought to obtain water from surrounding jurisdictions.

Curiously, there is little concern in the Town of Washington. Tracy Warren, proprietor of the Warren Sporting Headquarters on Main Street, reports: “The fishing is fine. We see a lot of Speckled Trout and Bass. The drought is having no effect on fishing in the River. We were going to have a good year anyway. It goes in cycles”. Doug Mumford of the Division of Marine Fisheries who follows recreational catches confirms that the fishing is great. “They’re catching Flounder in Blount’s Bay. A Red Drum was taken from Chocowinity Bay.”  Mumford explains that when the volume of flow in the river is reduced,  saltier water from the Pamlico Sound moves up the river and fish living in this water follow. “Crabs are abundant.”, he added. Mumford expressed concern that the shortage of flow was responsible for two or three extensive fish kills of fresh water species in creeks feeding the Pamlico.

Sarah Jameson, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Newport, NC, reported that Beaufort County has had a deficit of rainfall over the past twelve months. “Beaufort County is not as bad off as some of the counties to the west. The current departure from normal rainfall is six inches in the eastern part of the county and is twelve to sixteen inches on the western side where the town of Washington lies. This is fifty to seventy percent of the normal rainfall over a year.”     

Sarah confirmed that the US Drought Watch classifies Beaufort County as an area of “moderate drought”. All of North Carolina is in drought conditions.

Many would assume that farmers suffer when rainfall is less than normal. At the office of the County Extension Agent for Beaufort County, Galen Ambrose, whose focus is on crops, stated that this year will be the second most productive year for corn acreage. The same seems to be true for tobacco and early indications point to a good year for soybeans and cotton. With prices of agricultural products strong farmers are prospering. Animal farmers may be hurt as they must pay the same high prices for feedstock. The severity of drought in surrounding counties has helped drive up the price of hay.

“Water levels are normal” reported David Norwood, President of Carolina Winds Yachting Center on the Washington Waterfront. “We have had no effect from the drought”. Aubry Moore, the Dockmaster at the Washington Yacht and Country Club also has not observed a change in the water levels. He explains: “Whenever we have decreased flows from upriver the water from the Sound comes up and fills in.” “It’s saltier water.” He conceded. “We’ve got more problems with barnacles than ususal, but we see that anytime we have a dry spell.” “We don’t see all that junk coming down the River like we do when we have a lot of rain.” Aubrey delighted.

The Governor’s appeal was to all North Carolinians, When asked  what plans had been developed for conservation of water in Beafot County, Paul Spruill, County Manager responded: “We’re not very concerned about it.  Most of the water supply for Beaufort County comes from deep wells into the Castle Haynes Aquifer. This is a very large underground source of water flow.” “It would take six or seven years of severe drought conditions to affect our water sources.” There had been no consideration given to restricting water use in Beaufort County. Local officials  do not believe it is necessary.

Dr. Richard Spruill (no relation to Paul) is an associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at East Carolina University. Dr. Spruill enjoys much credibility among those who rely on him for advice about planning for future water use. He is a recognized expert in Hydrology, a specialty of Geology that seeks to understand water reserves like a petroleum geologist understands oil deposits. “At the current rate of use many of the State’s underground stores of water, called aquifers, would be depleted in the next decade.” “Recently enacted regulations have mandated a reduction to twenty five percent in the reliance of towns and cities on these deep water sources.” “The Castle Haynes Aquifer is probably the most prolific underground water source on the East Coast.” Spruill explains. Despite prodigious daily use by the PCS Phosphate mining operation in Aurora, Beaufort County, the Aquifer has a history of recharge that has easily kept up with draw from wells tapped into it.” “The Castle Haynes has been here for forty million years. It would take ten or fifteen years of severe shortage of rain to affect this water source. The people of Beaufort County are fortunate.  You have a goldmine of water underground there.” He professed. The capacity of the Castle Haynes has been recognized by the State as recent regulations exempt this System from the progressively restrictive measures expected on the use of the other less productive sources in the State.

The use of water in Beaufort County remains unrestricted and the population can drink up.

There is plenty of water, fishing is great, boaters, even those requiring depth need not worry. There is no need to cut back on the use of water and farmers are doing exceptionally well. In Washington the Drought of 2007 is an idea only, a headache for other people in other places.

Heather Jacobs is the “Riverkeeper” for the Pamlico Tar River Foundation, a not for profit group of citizens concerned about preserving the integrity of the River as a resource. Heather told me that there are several disturbing changes in the River attributable to the drought. The salt content of the River is four times normal. The “Tar River is at base level” Heather said. This means that the only water flowing down the river is from wastewater and runoff. This is the principle way that pollutants are introduced into the river. Much of this is nutrient material that encourages the growth of aquatic plants. Plants require oxygen. Oxygen enters the water from air partly as a result of turbulent flow. Since flow is reduced there is almost no turulance and oxygen levels can be expected to be reduced.

Large fish kills have been reported involving several species of freshwater fish. An extensive kill of Bass and Perch, Croaker, Menhaden and Catfish have been attributed to low levels of dissolved oxygen and increased salinity. Heather explains that

   

    Remains of Fish from Blount's Creek.August 11. Courtesy Heather Jacobs.

conditions in the River have led to increased stress in fish populations making them more susceptable to disease that they ordinarily could resist. Large fish kills are the result of exceptional local conditions, but they could become commonplace if things get worse.

Water levels are down slightly, but salinity is quite elevated at the automated gague at the Route 17 Bridge. Conductivity, a summary measure of pollution is quite high there.

“This is the dry time of our year.” noted Sarah Jameson of the Weather Service. “The outlook is poor for making up our deficit in rainfall. ”We are entering a La Nina phase of the atmosphere and these longer cycles are strongly associated with warm and dry conditions on the East Coast.” Warm and dry for the next sixteen months is the official prediction by climatologists who forecast long term weather trends.

Washington residents seem to appreciate their good fortune in having been only minimally impacted by the dry conditions affecting the rest of the State more convincingly. Looking more closely at the River, as Heather Jacobs does on a daily basis, troubling signs are evident. Does the wealth of the “goldmine of water” that is the Castle Haynes allow townspeople to be unconcerned about changes in the Pamlico River? Can they afford to ignore changes in the vitality of their partner waters because life is otherwise good?

Heather suggested that we have repeatedly learned over the last century that treating resources as limitless and inexhaustible is courting trouble.

The Riverkeeper believes: “It is past time for municipalities and county governments across the entire Tar Pamlico watershed to come together to assess the finite water supply that is available. I firmly believe that growth must be tied to available and local water supplies. We should not outgrow our local resources, especially when it comes to available water.”

Sources

Galen Ambrose- Extension agent – Beaufort County Office of NC Agriculutral Extension Services.

 I asked Galen an open ended question about the drought’s effect on farmers. Several followup questions were  attempts to amplify or clarify. I asked his opinion as to why farms were so productive even though rainfall has been low. He did not want to be definitive but finally opined: “I guess we don’t need as much rain to grow corn as we thought we needed.” 

Paul Spruill – County Manager – Beaufort County, North Carolina

I began my interview with the County Manager by asking what effect the “drought” was having on the town of Washington. I asked a number of questions relating to the specifics of how Beaufort County obtained its water. Several more in clarification. I asked him if the county had a written plan for water shortage and had the county submitted a plan to the State Depatment of Water Resources as I believed was required. 

Doug Mumford – Data Collection Specialist for the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Service

After informing Doug that I was researching issues relating to the effect of the drought on the river, I asked him to comment on the shortage of water and its effect on commercial and recreational fishing.

Sarah Jameson – Forecaster – National Weather Service (NWS) - Newport, North Carolina

Sarah responded with a phone call to me after I had made an online request to the NWS for information on rainfall and temperature specific to areas of Beaufort County. She provided me with the specific information and showed me how to find it on their web site. I also asked her questions about the criteria for designating differing degrees of drought severity. Finally I asked her to share the longer range (one to two years) outlook for precipitation in East North Carolina and the assumptions behind the forecast. She provided everything I asked and made herself available for followup if necessary.

Tracey Warren – Owner and Manager – Warren Sporting Headquarters – providing equipment and provisions for fishing in the Pamlico River.

I wandered into Terry’s shop unannounced and told him about my project. I asked him what he had heard from customers about the quality of the fishing locally. I specificaly asked him to give me his opinion about the effect of drought on local fishing conditions.

David Norwood – President  – Carolina Winds Yachting Center – Sailing and Chartering Services in Washington, North Carolina

I asked Dave whether he or boaters who used his facilities had noticed any problem with depth of the water. I then asked if the was any influence from the drought that were reflected in his business. 

Aubrey Moore – Dockmaster – Washington Yacht and Country Club – Manager of a large Marina on the Broad Creek just off the Pamlico River

I asked Aubrey the same questions as I asked David Norwood. He has been around these waters for 30 years and provided a lot of spontaneous data, opinion and rumor. Many of these strings produced  followup questions about his observations. Aubry was the source of stories about marine animals in the usually fresh water River.

Dr. Richard Spruill – Hyrologist in the Department of Geological Science at East Carolnia University. Doctor Spruill and his graduate students are extensively involved with several jurisdictions in the evaluation and planning of water resources.

After explaining my task, I asked Dr Spruill to help me understand the considerations that go into providing water to Beaufort County. I specifically asked him to comment on responses made by the County Manager relating to the capacity of underground water resources. I reviewed Dr. Spruill credentials and list of publications (no, I didn’t read them). He offered me information without prompting on the health of aquifers in different parts of the State. He unwittingly provided my headline, Goldmine of Water, again spontaneously. He offered graphics that illustrate the underground system of aquifers that supplies most of the fresh water for Eastern North Carolina. Again without promt, he briefed me on the plans in place by various jurisdictions to assure future water supply. He even told me which jurisdictions he thought was doing well and which poorly. 

Heather Jacobs – River Keeper – Pamlico Tar River Foundation.

I asked Heather to share with me her observation of changes in the River System during the current dry period.

Ryan Boyles – Meterologist in Raleigh Office of the North Carolina Department of Water Resources. Ryan directed me to the Department Web site.

Attempted Interviews

Representatives of the Beaufort County Estuarium, a museum devoted to the estuarine environment. Naturalist not available.

 David Emmerling – Executive Director, Tar Pamlico River Foundation – redirected me to Heather Jacobs.

 Jill Paxson – Coordinator of the Pamlico River Rapid Response Team of the Department of Marine Fisheries. She is responsible for documenting and evaluating the causes of fish kills on the Pamlico River.

Fact checking

I  used my many sources to confirm or refute information provided by others.

Much confirmatory information, such as Governors pronouncements, climatologic and river data , are available on Department Web sites maintained either by State or Federal Offices.

Dr. Spruill provided me with scholarly papers covering water resource use and documents relating to the Aquifer systems referenced in the article. I have sent an e mail to Dr. Spruill including specific data I used in the piece and asked for his comments to confirm their accuracy. As of my deadline I have not had a response.

Many of the water resource, weather and geological web sites provide access to real time data that reports river discharge rates, dissovled oxygen levels, salinity (at three depths), conductivity, daily precipitation, well levels and very much more  to exhaust the interst of any reader. I used many of these sites to confim information provided by the Riverkeeper. Specific data on daily salinity readings, conductance, stream flows were confirmed by this first hand data. The Rapid Response Team web site maintains detailed reports of each fish kill. I used these to  confirm this part of the story.

Potential Online Enhancements

A link to the North Carolina Drought Watch Web Site would be instructive.

An enormous number of links are available to provide for any level of interest in the technical details of weather related, hydrological or quality measures of the river. Current data and extensive historical archives are accessable.

A link to the Highway 17 Bridge Gauge provided by the US Geological Service would provide the reader a direct reference to daily changes in various river parameters. There is a web cam view of the Washington Waterfront that would cement a connection with river and the town.

Government web sites provide extensive listings of current data relating to the information I provided  above. Documents relating to regulations, criteria for assigning different degrees of drought designation and Agency policy statements could all be referenced by links.

A link to the Tar Pamlico River Foundation’s site would take a viewer anywhere they wished to go in search of River lore in three or four degrees of clicking.

While I inlcuded three images in the piece for print, further graphics, charts and maps would illustrate the points made in the article more concretely.

My headline graphic, provided by the Tar Pamlico Rover Foundation, is a photo of a rainbow over a dead tree trunk from the Pamlico River. I am attempting to exploint the symbols of wealth (pots of gold at the end of the rainbow) to support my theme. i.e trouble in the midst of plentiful resources. Other graphics would  be supportive and consistent with this theme to connect with the reader on an emotional level.

A graphic map of the aquifer sytem of the Central East Coast holds fascination for a world few ever consider despite its critical importance to our welfare.

Lectures, tours of the River, interviews with fishermen could be presented in audio and video format. During my discussions I heard a number of assertions referencing the presence of unusual marine species in the river that I could not precisely pin down. Dolphins, Tarpon and Stingrays had been seen east of Washington. Several people told me about a Bull Shark, a denizen of ocean waters, that had been landed from a dock near Bath. Fish stories, always interesting, could be provided as links to those who may find them intriguing. Too prominent placement may blur reality and impact credibility for the majority of readers.

Multiple subplots to the piece could be included and expanded to be viewed at the election of the reader. The fish kills have their own subplot involving “salt wedges” and fish physiology of different species and their adaption to salty water. Because of space I was not able to touch the serious problem of algae blooms on the river. One type of algae, Physteria, is directly toxic to marine creatures. Links to the Physteria web site lead to the world of Red Algae.

Since the piece has a reflective environmentalist slant, one could include a blog to encourage discussion related to conservation of water resources or other aspects of protection of the watershed. Politial differences in approaches could be aired.

Fisherman could make their reports. The web is a goldmine of information. The possibilities are limitless and inexhaustable.

                                       Tom Penders