Highlights from 2023
December 12, 2023
What a year it has been at Catawba Riverkeeper!
Catawba Riverkeeper celebrated 25 years in 2023. Watch the video below for a inspiring reflection on Catawba Riverkeeper's past and look towards our future.
Protecting our river
- Sampled 55 different swimming areas this summer each week to test for bacteria. Swim Guide results were viewed 117,000 times!
- Piloted a Spider Lily restoration program in Great Falls, SC.
- Constructed beaver dam analogs on a tributary of Canoe Creek near Marion as a pilot restoration project with promising early results.
- Investigated 75 pollution reports.
- Paddled more than 1100 miles to investigate pollution reports and complete surveys of sections of the basin.
- Filed to join the clean water citizen suit against New-Indy papermill.
- Successfully advocated for a bipartisan stormwater mitigation bill to be introduce in the NC General Assembly.
- Published the State of the River Report and the Southern Catawba and Wateree River Basins Protection and Restoration Plans.
- Hired a South Fork Watershed Manager who is focused on improving the health of the largest tributary of the Catawba River.
- Established a new office and lab in the Northern Basin in Morganton, NC.
Education Programing
- Taught 1,817 K-12 students about their watershed through field trips and presentations.
- Provided environmental education and kayaking programs to 237 students through the summer CREEK program (sponsored by Crescent Communities).
- Hosted more than 100 adults in educational workshops through the
Riverkeeper Learning Series (sponsored by
Xylem Watermark).
Engagement Programing
- Hosted 25 on-the-water programs and countless kayak rental opportunities providing 720 people the opportunity to experience the river firsthand
- Provided meaningful volunteer experiences to 2,213 volunteers who served a total of 5,922 hours. Their time is valued at $177,358!
- Confluence
hosted the first annual
Fork Fest music festival, featuring a one-of-a-kind floating concert!
Taking out the trash!
- Removed 1,001 tires and 100,570 pounds of trash from our basin's water and shores!
- 1,670 volunteers participated in cleanups (THANK YOU!!).
- Organized 94 cleanup events, including Riversweep which took place at 51 locations across the basin.
Organizational Growth
- Grew to 8,414 members and volunteers (38% increase from 2022).
- Had 16,873 unique transactions at our retail locations (The Boathouse, The River Room, and Confluence) and online storefront.
- More than 2,000 people attended one of our community events like RiverFest, Jam at the Dam, Fork Fest, and the Christmas Market.
- Continued to grow our social media follower base and email newsletter list.
Catawba Riverkeeper Floating Classroom
Whether you're planning a day at the lake or a weekend on the river, knowing if the water is safe for swimming is an important part of any outdoor adventure. Today, that information is only a few clicks away thanks to Swim Guide, a program that has grown from a local initiative into the world's largest recreational water quality network.
The rocky shoals spider lily (Hymenocallis occidentalis) is a rare aquatic flowering plant characterized by its distinctive crown-like membrane called the "corona." The flower features six spider-leg-like extensions attached to the corona, along with six stamens. Each plant grows to about 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide in direct sunlight, with multiple blooms on a single stalk.
