Not safe for swimming
Is it safe to swim here?
North Carolina · waterway · South Fork Holston basin
Clark Branch: what state assessments show
Not safe for swimming. Does not support healthy aquatic life.
Official state determinations under the Clean Water Act — about the waterway, not measurements taken today.
Clark Branch in the South Fork Holston basin is tracked by the state as a single assessed stretch (most recent cycle: 2024). Below is every designated-use determination on record — and what hasn't been assessed.
Designated uses
Does not support healthy aquatic life
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
- alteration in stream-side or littoral vegetative covers (habitat alterations)
- escherichia coli (e. coli) (pathogens)
- sedimentation/siltation (sediment)
A listed cause names what the assessment found in the water. It is not an attribution to any specific facility or source.
Assessed stretches
One assessment unit covers this waterway here.
Assessment unit IDs (1)
TN06010102046_0700
What the record doesn’t establish
- Whether fish caught in Clark Branch 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 Clark Branch?
The state has determined Clark Branch is not considered safe for swimming. That is an official Clean Water Act determination about the waterway, not a measurement taken today.
Can you eat fish caught in Clark Branch?
The state has not rated Clark Branch for fish consumption — unknown, not clean.
Why is Clark Branch listed as impaired?
State assessments list: alteration in stream-side or littoral vegetative covers, escherichia coli (e. coli), sedimentation/siltation. 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 South Fork Holston basin
Go deeper
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