Meets state standards for swimming
Is it safe to swim here?
North Carolina · waterway · Watauga, North Carolina, Tennessee basin
Watauga River: 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.
Watauga River in the Watauga, North Carolina, Tennessee basin is tracked by the state as 7 separately assessed stretches (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 (4 of 7 assessed stretches)
Can fish and aquatic insects live here?
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
- fish passage barrier (habitat alterations)
- flow regime modification (hydrologic alteration)
- cause unknown
- 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 7 assessment units — a stretch can fail a standard while another meets it.
Assessment unit IDs (7)
NC8-(1)a · NC8-(1)b · NC8-(16) · TN06010103008_1000 · TN06010103008_2000 · TN06010103008_3000 · TN06010103029_1000
What the record doesn’t establish
- Whether fish caught in Watauga River 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 Watauga River?
The state's most recent assessment found Watauga River 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 Watauga River?
The state has not rated Watauga River for fish consumption — unknown, not clean.
Why is Watauga River listed as impaired?
State assessments list: fish passage barrier, flow regime modification, cause unknown, 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 Watauga, North Carolina, Tennessee basin
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