CAFOs

Much of the land in our watersheds is agricultural and home to industrial hog and poultry facilities called CAFOs — concentrated animal feeding operations. Many of these facilities are located on tributaries of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers, sometimes, on the rivers themselves.

This poses a problem when waste from the largely unregulated poultry facilities is stored outside, uncovered and runs off into waterways during a rain. It’s also problematic when hog waste — held in large lagoons, then sprayed on fields — does them same, dumping nutrients into streams, creeks and, ultimately, rivers. These massive nutrient loads promote algal blooms which, in turn, can lead to fish kills.

Sound Rivers advocates for increased transparency in the poultry industry (currently, little to no permitting is required by the state), as well as finding better methods to dispose of hog waste — better ways that prevent animal waste from polluting the waters we fish in, swim in and drink from.

Find out more about CAFOs.

MICROPLASTICS

Plastics end up in our waterways all the time, whether it’s through roadside litter washed into a creek during a hard rain or people using our precious natural resources as convenient dumping grounds. Plastics do break down, and when they do, it’s into microscopic pieces called microplastics. Since they’re so tiny, microplastics can be ingested by and build up in aquatic life, which means we can end up ingesting plastic, too.

Sound Rivers is engaged in a statewide research project to determine how plastics end up in our waterways, how they break down and what we can do to prevent microplastics pollution.

Learn more about our microplastics research.

Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs)

SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS

Sanitary sewer systems collect and transport domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater, as well as limited amounts of stormwater and infiltrated ground water to treatment facilities for appropriate treatment.

Occasionally, sanitary sewers will spill raw sewage. These types of spills are called sanitary sewer overflows. SSOs can contaminate our waterways, causing serious water-quality problems and back up into homes, causing property damage and threatening public health.

In the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds, the main cause of SSOs is predominantly stormwater and/or groundwater overloading a system during tropical weather events, or even a hard rain. Aging sewer infrastructure and new development creating an additional burden on already insufficient infrastructure are two culprits behind our SSOs.

Learn more about SSOs here.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Take any one of the issues above, and it is magnified when climate change is factored in. With climate change come a rise in sea level, more extreme rain events and the threat of more — and stronger —hurricanes.

Those living in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds are very familiar with the power of extreme rain and hurricane flooding. The more we have of both, the more stormwater issues arise; the more industrial animal waste flows into our creeks; the more plastics wash into our streams; the more sewer infrastructure is overwhelmed, spilling raw sewage into our rivers.

Learn more about how climate change and sea-level rise impact the health of rivers and the people who rely on them.