Background
Local interest in protecting the high quality natural resources in the Rocky River subbasin of the Cape Fear Basin is high. Various groups who are actively working on water quality protection and improvement include the recently formed Rocky River Heritage Foundation, a new group that is in partnership with the Triangle Land Conservancy called Chatham Conservation Partners, Chatham County Cooperative Extension Center, the Chatham Soil and Water Conservation District, and Chatham County government itself.
The County contacted WECO and NRLI in late 2007 to facilitate an appointed stakeholder group to discuss how to move forward with protection of the Rocky River Subbasin. With feedback from the group and additional agricultural stakeholders, the following goals were developed for an EPA 319 proposal, which was granted and began in December 2008:
•convene and coordinate collaborate subbasin-wide effort to coordinate, involve all effected stakeholders, and leverage resources better •use the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program 2005 report as a foundation for engaging stakeholders in identifying and prioritizing projects for implementation in the overall Rocky River subbasin; •produce an EPA required 9 Key element watershed restoration plan, using the NCEEP report as a starting point; •build on local SWCD and NRCS efforts to restore the impaired Tick Creek watershed by engaging landowners in implementing agricultural BMPs, including cattle exclusion and stream stabilization, and identifying preservation opportunities; •conduct an aquatic taxa inventory, create a geodatabase for storing and analizying data, conduct and a land use/land cover change analysis of Tick Creek watershed to better characterize its important biological community and reasons for impairment.
