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North Carolina / Waters /

Catawba River

River in North Carolina, past Glen Alpine, Morganton, Mount Holly, Stanley and Taylorsville

Current status

No current status shown

No current status is assigned to this water outline. Check the water page for reports and any estimated downstream stretches. Why this status, and its source

Map sources: water outlines and launches from OpenBoatLaunch and OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database License); wastewater outlets from EPA and state records; downstream estimates by DirtyWaterWatch using U.S. Geological Survey maps and flow data. Base map: OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles.

Square boat markers mark boat launches listed by OpenBoatLaunch. Larger round markers with a label mark beach and other official advisories nearby.

Check Charlotte Water's notices · Bookmark this water page and check it before each trip · Report a missing notice or error

About this status

No current status shown: no report we track sets a status on this water now; how statuses work. No status does not mean the water is safe. Follow posted signs and local health advice.

Sources checked: a public source (last successful check 2026-11-05 01:05 UTC); a public source (last successful check 2026-11-05 01:05 UTC); NC DWR Sanitary Sewer Overflows September 2022 through December 2025 (ArcGIS) (last successful check 2026-11-04 06:57 UTC); NC DEQ DWR "SSOs and Bypasses" ArcGIS layer (last successful check 2026-11-05 01:08 UTC); NC DEQ Fish Kills and Algal Blooms public reports (Fish_Kill_Algal_Bloom_Public_View) (last successful check 2026-11-04 06:57 UTC). Status by DirtyWaterWatch, updated 2026-11-05 01:25 UTC. · Updated

The last 90 days

Last 90 days, hour by hour. Red: discharge or advisory reported. Amber: caution. Hatched amber: end not confirmed. Plum: algal bloom advisory. Red or amber with a light line inside: beach advisory or caution. Dotted: monthly report (days with discharge, dates not given). Grey: no current status on the water outline. Purple hatching: source update overdue.
  • Caution: to
    1 report: City of Hickory 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: City of Hickory 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    2 reports: City of Hickory 1, Town of Valdese 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: City of Hickory 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    1 report: Town of Valdese 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: Town of Valdese 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Caution: to
    1 report: Charlotte Water 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

  • Discharge or advisory reported: to
    1 report: Charlotte Water 1
    Show records

    The records are also in the report table on this page.

Source: DirtyWaterWatch calculations using the reports named above and the published status rules. Updated 2026-11-05 01:25 UTC.

Reported discharges over time

  • Discharges affecting the Catawba River in North Carolina, last 12 months1212 affecting this stretch: 12 reported on the Catawba River; none arriving from upstreamDecember 2025 to November 2026Verified reports where available, else notices; revisions and duplicates counted once. Arriving discharges are estimated from modeled downstream reaches.
  • Days with a discharge affecting the Catawba River in North Carolina, last 12 months11Reported on the Catawba River in North Carolina: 11 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0 (counted apart; together they need not equal the total)December 2025 to November 2026A day counts once however many discharges were under way on it.
  • Hours with a discharge or advisory status on the Catawba River in North Carolina, last 12 months27Reported on the Catawba River in North Carolina: 27 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0December 2025 to November 2026Red hours by the map's rules: each discharge to its reported end plus the state's post-discharge period; overlapping hours count once.
  • 2026 season with a discharge or advisory status on the Catawba River in North Carolina0.5%May to October 2026Share of May 1 to October 31 hours with red status by the map's rules, of the hours a source covered.
  • Records behind the last-90-days strip for the Catawba River in North Carolina4Reported on the Catawba River in North Carolina: 4 · Arriving from outfalls upstream, estimated: 0last 90 daysEvery distinct record the strip lists for its red, yellow and unresolved hours, notices and unresolved reports included; counted as the strip counts them.

Combined sewer overflow (CSO): sewage mixed with rainwater spills from a shared sewer system. Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO): sewage spills from a sewer meant to carry sewage separately from rainwater. Treatment bypass: wastewater skips one or more treatment steps. Blended discharge: wastewater that skipped some treatment is mixed with treated wastewater. Outfall: a pipe or outlet where wastewater enters a water body.

Reported discharges per month

39 reported discharges, January 2022 to November 2026.

  • Combined sewer overflow
  • Sanitary sewer overflow
  • Treatment bypass, blended or other
  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to April 2022.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Hours with a discharge or advisory status per month

Hours when this water had a discharge or advisory status under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to April 2022. 27 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Days with a reported discharge per month

A day counts when any counted discharge was under way on it, from its start to its reported end in Eastern Time; a report with no end counts its start day.

  • No tracked source for this period
  • Incomplete source coverage

No tracked source covers January 2022 to April 2022.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported volume per year

Gallons (axis: K thousand, M million), summed from the 38 reports that gave a volume as a number (1 did not).

  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited recordsLimited records

1 of 39 discharge reports gave no volume as a number; only numbers are summed.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Hours with a discharge or advisory status per year

Hours with a discharge or advisory status each year under DirtyWaterWatch rules; 2026 to date.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Incomplete source coverage
Limited recordsLimited records

27 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Share of the May to October season with a discharge or advisory status

Share of the hours from May 1 to October 31 with a discharge or advisory status under DirtyWaterWatch rules.

  • Discharge or advisory reported
  • Season with incomplete source coverage

Seasons with incomplete source coverage: 2022. The share is of the hours a source covered. 27 discharge reports have no end time and are not marked ongoing; under DirtyWaterWatch rules they show caution, not a discharge or advisory status, and add no hours here.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported discharges by calendar month, all years

Every counted discharge report, by the calendar month it began.

Months are summed over every year a tracked source covers; the table gives the number of years behind each month.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table

Reported discharges by wastewater outlet

Wastewater outlets with the most tracked discharge records: 10 of 20, all years. Counts depend on reporting coverage and do not measure legal compliance or harm.

Sources: nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025; nc-dwr-sso-2026. Records cover September 1, 2022 to November 4, 2026.

Show table
How these charts are counted

We count each discharge once. Where a source publishes notices and confirmed reports, we use confirmed reports for an operator's month when available; otherwise we use notices. We combine revisions and exclude duplicate state reports copied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monthly and yearly totals appear separately. Status hours follow this site's rules. Shaded gaps mean missing coverage, not zero discharges.

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sewer overflow records: records from May 3, 2022 to the latest update (limited records)
  • nc-dwr-sso-2022-2025: records from September 1, 2022 to February 15, 2026
  • nc-dwr-sso-2026: records from January 2, 2026 to the latest update

Reports linked to Catawba River

39 sewage reports · 2 algal bloom advisories

Reports linked to Catawba River, newest first
WhenReportStatus
to 12:30 AMHickory Collection System · 535 43rd Avenue Court, Hickory · SSO · 60 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 2:00 AMHickory Collection System · 658-698 21st Northwest Avenue, Hickory · SSO · 200 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 7:30 AMValdese Collection System · 189 Edgewater Point Northwest, Morganton · SSO · 1,200 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 10:44 PMCharlotte Water Collection System · 201 Broome Street, Mount Holly · SSO · 15,972 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 8:42 PME Lincoln County Collection System · 8218 Hagers Ferry Road, Denver · SSO · 4,000 gallons in all mapended
to 8:30 PMCharlotte Water Collection System · 11007 Lochmere Road, Charlotte · SSO · 123 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 10:00 AMGranite Falls Collection System · 19 Laurel Street, Granite Falls · SSO · 300 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 12:37 PMHickory Collection System · 715 21st Avenue Drive, Hickory · SSO · 334 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 3:40 PMCharlotte Water Collection System · 18217 Harbor Light Boulevard, Cornelius · SSO · 252 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 3:40 PMHickory Collection System · 2200 6th Street, Hickory · SSO · 70 gallons report · notice · mapended
to 10:45 AMBelmont Collection System · 253 Plant Allen Road, Belmont · SSO · 14,400 gallons report · notice · mapended
Morganton Collection System · Lost Corner Pump Station · SSO · volume not reported report · notice · mapended
E Lincoln County Collection System · SSO · 1,500 gallons report · notice · mapended
Charlotte Water Collection System · 12028 Avienmore Drive · SSO · 89 gallons report · notice · mapended
Charlotte Water Collection System · 11026 Lockmere Rd. · SSO · 93 gallons report · notice · mapended
Hickory Collection System · SSO · 100 gallons report · notice · mapended
Hickory Collection System · SSO · 600 gallons report · notice · mapended
E Lincoln County Collection System · SSO · 800 gallons report · notice · mapended
Charlotte Water Collection System · SSO · 510 gallons report · notice · mapended
Morganton Collection System · Aerial line · SSO · 11,700 gallons report · notice · mapended
Hickory Collection System · SSO · 3,700 gallons report · notice · mapended
Belmont Collection System · SSO · 2,512 gallons report · notice · mapended
Marion Collection System · Lift station · SSO · 6,500 gallons report · notice · mapended
Mount Holly Collection System · SSO · 1,000 gallons report · notice · mapended

Sources: NC DEQ DWR "SSOs and Bypasses" ArcGIS layer, retrieved 2026-11-05 01:08 UTC; NC DWR Sanitary Sewer Overflows September 2022 through December 2025 (ArcGIS), retrieved 2026-11-04 06:57 UTC. A report's record id and times show when you hover or focus its "report" link.

Download these reports as CSV

Showing the latest 25 records of 41 records.See them all with filters.

All reports in North Carolina by year: 2026 (12 here) · 2025 (7 here) · 2024 (9 here) · 2023 (7 here) · 2022 (6 here)

Wastewater outlets on this water

No wastewater outlet in our records is linked to this water.

Sewer operators listed for this water: Charlotte Water, City of Belmont, City of Gastonia, City of Hickory, City of Lowell, City of Morganton, High Shoals State Street WWTP, Town of Valdese, Lincoln County, Town of Granite Falls, City of Marion, City of Mount Holly.

Boat launches

Source: OpenBoatLaunch launch records (public agency data and OpenStreetMap, Open Database License). · Catawba River on OpenBoatLaunch

Nearby waters

Sources covering this water

41 records linked to this water: 39 sewage reports, 2 algal bloom advisories. Updated .