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Drinking Water in the
Upper Neuse River Basin
Map courtesy of Upper Neuse River Basin Association
The Upper Neuse River Basin is a 770-square-mile area in the North Carolina Piedmont. The Upper Neuse is home to about 190,000 people and contains nine public drinking water supply reservoirs that together serve over 500,000 people. The Basin drains to the Falls Lake Reservoir, Raleigh's major water resource. Other water supplies include:
- Lake Mitchie
- Little River Reservoir (Durham)
- Lake Holt (Butner/Granville County)
- Lake Orange (Orange County)
- New Hillsborough Lake (Hillsborough)
- Corporation Lake
- Lake Ben Johnston (Hillsborough)
- Lake Rogers (Creedmoor)
Current Land Use
The major land cover types of the basin are forest (61 percent) and agriculture (16 percent). Most of this open space is in the headwaters of the Flat, Little, and Eno Rivers. Seventeen percent of the basin is urban or suburban.
Growth and Development Pressures Water quality degradation is increasing in the Upper Neuse River Basin due to development and population growth. A 50 percent increase in population is projected in the Falls Lake Basin by 2025. This growth will likely lead to the development of an additional 50,000 acres of land and consume 76 percent of the remaining undeveloped land in the basin.
Solutions According to a report released by the Triangle GreenPrint Project (a joint initiative of the Triangle J Council of Governments, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Triangle Land Conservancy), the rate of land protection in the region must grow from 8 percent to 15 percent within 25 years. After that, many of the best opportunities will be lost and properties that remain undeveloped could be prohibitively expensive.
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