In 1972, the United States Government began granting states funds to better manage their water quality. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (US Public Law 92-500) prompted the state of North Carolina to launch its first watershed planning activities and statewide planning activities were completed in the 1970s. Managed by the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ), the state created seventeen (17) major regions, along hydrologic lines, known as river basins - and each of these are further subdivided into specific regional watersheds. DEQ produces a Watershed Water Quality Assessment (WWQA) for each watershed every five years. The hydrologic units used are the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service 11-digit codes, and has been updated in 1999 to the 14-digit level, further subdividing each watershed and providing more detail. For more info from DEQ Click Here.

The following .pdf files will provide you each of the seventeen (17) major River Basins within North Carolina along with a listing of all the waterbodies included therein. Additionally, the State's official list of Waterbodies for each North Carolina county can be found by Clicking Here.