Does not support healthy aquatic life (1 of 3 assessed stretches)
Can fish and aquatic insects live here?
North Carolina · waterway · Upper Dan basin
Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1): what state assessments show
Does not support healthy aquatic life.
Official state determinations under the Clean Water Act — about the waterway, not measurements taken today.
Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) in the Upper Dan basin is tracked by the state as 3 separately assessed stretches (most recent cycle: 2022). Below is every designated-use determination on record — and what hasn't been assessed.
Designated uses
Meets standards as a drinking-water source
Can this water be used as a drinking-water supply?
A use the state didn't report is omitted rather than shown as passing. "Never assessed" means unknown — never clean.
Listed causes
- temperature
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 3 assessment units — a stretch can fail a standard while another meets it.
Assessment unit IDs (3)
NC22-27-(7) · NC22-27-(7.5)a · NC22-27-(7.5)b
What the record doesn’t establish
- Whether Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) is safe for swimming — the state hasn't assessed it for recreation here.
- Whether fish caught in Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) are safe to eat — no fish-consumption assessment on record here.
- 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 Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1)?
The state has not rated Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) for swimming — that's a gap in the record, not a clean result.
Can you eat fish caught in Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1)?
The state has not rated Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) for fish consumption — unknown, not clean.
Why is Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) listed as impaired?
State assessments list: temperature. 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 Upper Dan basin
Go deeper
Search an address near Belews Creek (including Belews Lake Below Elevation 725) (1) to see how it connects — what drains toward it, monitoring-station samples, and permitted operations in its watershed.
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