Neuse River Basin Restoration Priorities - N. C. Ecosystem ...

Please send comments on this DRAFT DOCUMENT to rob.breeding@ncdenr.gov by April 30, 2011.
Upper Swift Creek: 03020201110010
Much of the 36 square mile Swift Creek watershed lies in the Town of Cary. Clean Water
Management Trust Fund sponsored a detailed study of the watershed (Watershed Assessment
and Restoration Project Report, 2003) and EEP followed this with the Upper Swift Creek LWP
(Local Watershed Plan Fact Sheet) Currently EEP is pursuing Phase IV priority projects from
the plan’s Project Atlas (Management Report, 2005). It includes 84 miles of stream running
through this section of the Northern Outer Piedmont ecoregion. Forty-five percent of the streams
here are unbuffered. Over 3.6 square miles of open water occur in the form of multiple smaller
lakes on tributaries of Swift Creek and one major lake on the mainstem, Lake Wheeler. A small
amount (8%) of agriculture persists here. Fifty-four percent of this watershed is developed and
10% is considered impervious. Nineteen square miles (53%) is required to follow Phase II
stormwater regulations. DOT has planned 2.5 miles of TIP projects. The mainstem of Swift and
all of Williams Creek is impaired, resulting in 11% of the stream total on the 303(d) list. Despite
the large amount of development, 34% of the watershed is forested. There are 1.7 square miles
of SNHA in the watershed. Triangle Land Conservancy maintains one conservation area called
Swift Creek Bluffs and the Town of Cary maintains another called Hemlock Bluffs. These two
natural areas are home to a relic eastern hemlock forest community.
High priorities for this watershed are hydrologic restoration projects including stream
enhancement, dam removal and flow management from impoundments. Preservation and
corridor enhancement are a high priority for maintaining rare habitats. Stormwater management
projects are critical in the Cary vicinity to improve water quality in the creek and Lake Wheeler.
DWQ developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to guide improvement of the
benthic macroinvertebrate community. This “biological TMDL” is the first of its kind for NC
and is aimed at removing Swift and Williams creeks from the 303(d) list.
Neuse River Basin Restoration Priorities 2010 34