Meets state standards for swimming
Is it safe to swim here?
North Carolina · waterway · Albemarle basin
Albemarle Sound: what state assessments show
Fish here are under a consumption advisory. Does not support healthy aquatic life.
Official state determinations under the Clean Water Act — about the waterway, not measurements taken today.
Albemarle Sound in the Albemarle basin is tracked by the state as 7 separately assessed stretches (most recent cycle: 2022). Below is every designated-use determination on record — and what hasn't been assessed.
Designated uses
Fish here are under a consumption advisory (1 of 7 assessed stretches)
Can I eat fish caught here?
Does not support healthy aquatic life (4 of 7 assessed stretches)
Can fish and aquatic insects live here?
A use the state didn't report is omitted rather than shown as passing. "Never assessed" means unknown — never clean.
Listed causes
- dioxin in fish tissue (dioxins)
- copper (metals (other than mercury))
- ph, high (ph/acidity/caustic conditions)
A listed cause names what the assessment found in the water. It is not an attribution to any specific facility or source.
Assessed stretches
The state tracks this waterway as 7 assessment units — a stretch can fail a standard while another meets it.
Assessment unit IDs (7)
NC26 · NC30a · NC30b · NC30c1 · NC30c2a · NC30c2b · NC30d
What the record doesn’t establish
- What today's water looks like — assessments are determinations made on multi-year cycles, not live measurements.
Common questions
Is it safe to swim in Albemarle Sound?
The state's most recent assessment found Albemarle Sound meets its standards for swimming. That is a determination about the assessed stretches, not a guarantee about any spot on any day.
Can you eat fish caught in Albemarle Sound?
The state has determined fish caught in Albemarle Sound are under a consumption advisory (1 of 7 assessed stretches) — it doesn't meet standards for eating the fish caught in it.
Why is Albemarle Sound listed as impaired?
State assessments list: dioxin in fish tissue, copper, ph, high. A listed cause names the problem the assessment found — it does not attribute it to any specific source.
Sources
| Dataset | Agency version | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|
| EPA/state ATTAINS waterway assessments | ATTAINS_Assessment ArcGIS snapshot (gispub.epa.gov) | 2026-08-15 |
| ATTAINS waterway geometry | ATTAINS_Assessment ArcGIS lines + areas (gispub.epa.gov) | 2026-08-16 |
| USGS watershed boundaries | USGS WBD via National Map MapServer | 2026-08-15 |
Records lag their agencies' refresh cycles — a recent change may not appear yet. Absence from a dataset is absence of a record, never evidence that water is clean.
Also in the Albemarle basin
Go deeper
Search an address near Albemarle Sound to see how it connects — what drains toward it, monitoring-station samples, and permitted operations in its watershed.
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