waters with high potential for clearing. 

 Sampling is also stepped up for areas that 

 are closed a few days following heavy 

 rains. These waters are shut down because 

 2 or 3 inches of rain can wash high levels 

 of bacteria and pathogens into the creeks. 



On the other hand, during a dry pe- 

 riod, Shellfish Sanitation will test espe- 

 cially productive waters in closed areas 

 and open them for a short time. They are 

 automatically closed again after one-half 

 inch of rain. 



"When time 

 permits, we 

 check as many 

 sites as we can," 

 Gilbert says. 

 "The problem is 

 it's usually dry 

 everywhere. 

 They're all call- 

 ing, and we can 

 only test so 

 many sites. We 

 try to alternate, 

 pick an area with 

 the most shell- 

 fish resource." 



Hewletts 

 Creek appears to 

 have a steady, 

 nonpoint supply 

 of the bacteria 

 that closes shell- 

 fish waters, and 

 this is probably 

 why it hasn't 

 cleared enough 

 to reopen, Gil- 

 bert says. 



In other 



words, the problem is much broader than a 

 single malfunctioning pump station. It 

 starts miles inland at the far edge of the 

 creek's watershed. Within this watershed 

 boundary are two major malls and one of 

 the fastest-growing areas in the county. In 

 the immediate area of the creek, 22 devel- 

 opments have been built since 1987, add- 

 ing 745 housing units on 479 acres. 



"As development takes place, typi- 

 cally the creeks are closed to shellfishing," 

 says Patrick Lowe, assistant director of 

 New Hanover County's Planning Depart- 

 ment. "That's not to say that development 



in and of itself is the only source. As de- 

 velopment takes place, there are changes 

 in the physical parameters along the 

 creeks that lead to closures." 



Hewletts Creek — and others like it 

 — are big sinks for the pollution that is 

 swept from urban and residential develop- 

 ment, marinas, dump sites, septic systems, 

 agricultural fields and animal operations. 

 Statewide, these nonpoint sources account 

 for about 63 percent of the closed acreage 



Hewletts Creek resident Mona Smalley hopes the front portion 

 of the creek can be reopened to shellfishing. 



in estuarine waters, according to a DEM 

 water quality report. 



But nonpoint sources haven't always 

 been the leading culprit. Before the 

 growth boom in the 1980s, pollution 

 sleuths traced most of the damage to point 

 sources — treated, permitted discharges 

 from municipal wastewater treatment 

 plants or industries. These problems were 

 remedied by better wastewater technology 

 and tighter regulations. 



And they were quickly replaced by 

 nonpoint source pollution that sweeps 

 along the heels of population growth and 



development. The growth was made 

 possible, in part, by the same technologi- 

 cal advances that choked off point source 

 pollution. 



"We grabbed the end of the pipe and 

 squeezed it as hard as we could, and we 

 made significant gains in improving 

 water quality," says Doug Rader, senior 

 scientist for the N.C. Environmental 

 Defense Fund. "But while we were mak- 

 ing gains in point sources, we were 



steadily losing 

 ground because 

 of nonpoint 

 source pollution 

 from a variety 

 of sources." 



The 

 ground lost is 

 hard to regain. 

 Without careful 

 planning, land 

 that is disturbed 

 or paved can 

 become a run- 

 way for pollu- 

 tion. Runoff is 

 no longer able 

 to filter through 

 vegetation that 

 has been 

 stripped away. 

 Instead, it 

 washes over 

 asphalt, side- 

 walks, parking 

 lots and roof- 

 tops, carrying 

 fecal coliform 

 and other pol- 

 lutants. The 

 destination of these slugs of runoff is the 

 tidal creeks. The flow is greater because 

 the water isn't absorbed by the ground 

 before it arrives. And it carries silt that 

 can fill the creek and choke off waters 

 that previously flushed away pollutants. 



"Under natural conditions, you get 

 little runoff. But as you convert the land, 

 it becomes worse," says Todd Miller, 

 executive director of the N.C. Coastal 

 Federation. "So basically, wherever 

 there's activity on land — agriculture, 

 forestry or urban — you're going to have 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 7 



