Never assessed — condition unknown
Is it safe to swim here?
North Carolina · waterway · Albemarle basin
Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper: 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.
Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper in the Albemarle basin is tracked by the state as a single assessed stretch (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
Can I eat fish caught here?
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
- dioxin (including 2,3,7,8-tcdd) (dioxins)
- dissolved oxygen (organic enrichment/oxygen depletion)
- pcbs in fish tissue (polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs))
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)
VAT-G15E_SBE01A00
What the record doesn’t establish
- Whether Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper is safe for swimming — the state hasn't assessed it for recreation 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 Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper?
The state has not rated Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper for swimming — that's a gap in the record, not a clean result.
Can you eat fish caught in Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper?
The state has determined fish caught in Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper are under a consumption advisory — it doesn't meet standards for eating the fish caught in it.
Why is Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper listed as impaired?
State assessments list: dioxin (including 2,3,7,8-tcdd), dissolved oxygen, pcbs in fish tissue. 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 Southern Branch, Elizabeth R. - Upper to see how it connects — what drains toward it, monitoring-station samples, and permitted operations in its watershed.
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