North Carolina Administrative Code
Title 15A - Environmental Quality
Chapter 02 - ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Subchapter B - SURFACE WATER AND WETLAND STANDARDS
Section .0300 - ASSIGNMENT OF STREAM CLASSIFICATIONS
Section 02B .0303 - LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER BASIN AND SAVANNAH RIVER DRAINAGE AREA

(a) Classifications assigned to the waters within the Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area are set forth in the Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule, which may be inspected at the following places:

(b) Unnamed streams entering Georgia or Tennessee shall be classified "C Tr." Such streams in the Savannah River drainage area entering South Carolina shall be classified "B Tr."

(c) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective:

(d) The Little Tennessee Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective March 1, 1989 as follows:

(e) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective January 1, 1990 as follows:

(f) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective July 1, 1990 by the reclassification of Alarka Creek (Index No. 2-69) from source to Upper Long Creek (Index No. 2-69-2) including all tributaries from Classes C and C Tr to Classes C HQW and C Tr HQW.

(g) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective March 1, 1991 as follows:

(h) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective August 3, 1992 with the reclassification of all water supply waters (waters with a primary classification of WS-I, WS-II or WS-III). These waters were reclassified to WS-I, WS-II, WS-III, WS-IV or WS-V as defined in the revised water supply protection rules (15A NCAC 02B .0100, 02B .0200 and 02B .0300), which became effective on August 3, 1992. In some cases, streams with primary classifications other than WS were reclassified to a WS classification due to their proximity and linkage to water supply waters. In other cases, waters were reclassified from a WS classification to an alternate appropriate primary classification after being identified as downstream of a water supply intake or identified as not being used for water supply purposes.

(i) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective February 1, 1993 as follows:

(j) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective August 1, 1994 with the reclassification of Deep Creek [Index Nos. 2-79-63-(1) and 2-79-63-(16)] from its source to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park Boundary including tributaries from Classes C Tr, B Tr and C Tr HQW to Classes WS-II Tr and WS-II Tr CA.

(k) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective September 1, 1996 as follows:

(l) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective August 1, 1998 with the reclassifications of Thorpe Reservoir (Lake Glenville), Hurricane Creek, and Laurel Branch [Index Nos. 2-79-23-(1), 2 -79-23-2, and 2-79-23-2-1 respectively] from classes WS-III&B, WS-III Tr and WS-III to classes WS-III&B HQW, WS-III Tr HQW, and WS-III HQW.

(m) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended August 1, 2000 with the reclassification of Wesser Creek [Index No. 2-79-52-5-1] from its source to Williams Branch from Class C to Class C Tr.

(n) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended April 1, 2003 with the reclassification of a portion of the Little Tennessee River [Index No. 2-(1)] from a point 0.4 mile upstream of N.C. Highway 28 to Nantahala River Arm of Fontana Lake from Class C to Class B.

(o) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended January 1, 2007 with the reclassification of the entire watersheds of all creeks that drain to the north shore of Fontana Lake between Eagle and Forney Creeks, including Eagle and Forney Creeks, [Index Nos. 2-96 through 2-164 (excluding all waterbodies that drain to the south shore of Fontana Lake)] from Class B, C Tr, WS-IV Tr CA, WS-IV Tr, and WS-IV & B CA to Class B ORW, C Tr ORW, WS-IV Tr ORW CA, WS-IV Tr ORW, and WS-IV & B ORW CA, respectively. Additional site-specific management strategies are outlined in Rule .0225(e)(12) of this Subchapter.

(p) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended effective November 1, 2007 with the reclassification of Richland Balsam Seep near Beechflat Creek [Index No. 2-79-28-3-2] to Class WL UWL. The Division of Water Resources maintains a Geographic Information Systems data layer of the UWL.

(q) The Little Tennessee River Basin and Savannah River Drainage Area Classification Schedule was amended July 1, 2009 with the reclassification of the watershed of the lower portion of the Horsepasture River [portion of Index Number 4-13-(12.5)] from a point approximately 0.60 miles downstream of N.C. 281 (Bohaynee Road) to the NC-SC state line from Class B Tr to Class B Tr ORW, and the watershed of the upper portion of the Horsepasture River [Index Number 4-13-(0.5) and a portion of Index Number 4-13-(12.5)] from source to a point approximately 0.60 miles downstream of N.C. 281 (Bohaynee Road) to include only the ORW management strategy as represented by "+". The "+" symbol means that all undesignated waterbodies that are located within the watershed of the upper portion of Horsepasture River shall comply with Rule .0225(c) of this Subchapter in order to protect the designated waters as per Rule .0203 of this Subchapter and to protect outstanding resource values found throughout the entire Horsepasture River watershed. Site-specific management strategies are outlined in Rule .0225(e)(13) of this Subchapter.