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Though recent rain has alleviated drought conditions in much of the state, parts of the upper Tar River watershed maintain the status of “exceptional drought.”

“Little Fishing Creek, which is home to the Tar River spinymussel and Carolina madtom, has very little flowing water,” said Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman. “It was specifically named by the Drought Management Advisory Council as having the lowest streamflow recorded since 1960.”

The DMAC is a multi-agency group of experts that monitors, assesses and issues weekly updates on drought conditions across North Carolina.

A week before the DMAC report was issued, Wildlife Resources Commission Fisheries Biologist Michael Fisk paid a visit to Little Fishing Creek, and relayed that large portions of the creek were “completely dry or just had some pools,” according to Katey.

“They’ve been monitoring these sites to determine if any species salvage is necessary,” she said. “Vulnerable species are under more stress during drought conditions. This creek is habitat to multiple endangered and threatened species, so we’re just hoping for some rain soon.”

Below normal rainfall from August 2025 to June 2026 sent reservoir levels plummeting, prompted water conservation orders and landed all North Carolina counties with drought designations ranging from “Abnormally Day” to “Exceptional Drought.”

“We’re seeing worse and more frequent drought periods, and we can expect to see more of this according to climate change projections,” Katey said. “This is why hyperscale data centers are a really bad idea: water is a finite resource, and we cannot be giving our already stressed resources to industry.”

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