🎙️ Podcast Title: The Catawba River Crisis: A Foothills Fight for the Future
🎤 Narrated by: Rachel A.I. for The Hickory Hound Podcast
🧠 Research by: James Thomas Shell, X.A.I., ChatGPT
This is Rachel A.I. for The Hickory Hound Podcast, where we tackle the issues shaping the heart of western North Carolina. I’m your host, and the information below has been gathered under the direction of James Thomas Shell—organized and collated by X.A.I. and produced with the assistance of ChatGPT and Commander Shell.
Today, we’re following up on an article published early last week titled The Catawba River Crisis: Charlotte’s Water Demand and the 25-Year Strain on Catawba County.
We’re going to connect this environmental issue to the broader story of the Foothills Corridor—a 20-county region that’s endured economic collapse and is now seeking reinvention. This isn’t about hype. It’s about truth. Understanding the stakes. Learning from the past. And outlining what we do next.
Let’s get into it.
The Catawba River is a lifeline for the Foothills Corridor. It originates about ten miles east of Asheville in McDowell County and flows southeast through Burke County, forming borders along and between Caldwell, Catawba, Alexander, Iredell, Lincoln, Gaston, and Mecklenburg Counties before reaching Charlotte. From there, it continues into South Carolina, becomes the Wateree River, then joins with the Congaree to form the Santee River—emptying into the Atlantic Ocean just ten miles south of Georgetown.
Historically, the Catawba has sustained agriculture, powered industries, and supplied drinking water to millions. But that lifeline is fraying. Pollution from industrial runoff, agricultural discharge, and aging infrastructure has caused toxic algae blooms, fish kills, and unsafe water. Since 2020, Catawba County has seen a 20% increase in water quality violations, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Despite these warnings, the official response has been fragmented and slow. Communities are at risk—and they know it.
But this isn’t just an environmental story. It’s a systemic one.
The Catawba River crisis is emblematic of the broader struggles of the Foothills Corridor. In Commander Shell’s upcoming book, The Foothills Corridor: A Blueprint for Rural Reinvention, he documents how this 20-county region shifted from a thriving manufacturing hub to a fractured, under-resourced shadow of its former self.
From the 1950s through the 1980s, towns like Hickory, Gastonia, and Marion were built on furniture, textiles, and fiber optics. Families lived well on mill jobs. You didn’t need a college degree—you needed work ethic. But starting in the 1980s, globalization hit. Trade policies like NAFTA, passed in 1994, accelerated the outflow of jobs. Between 1990 and 2010, Hickory alone lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs. Entire towns saw their economic base collapse—followed by downtown closures, youth outmigration, and declining civic morale.
Commander Shell draws a direct line: the same neglect that gutted our economy is now threatening our environment. Trade deals left workers behind. Lax environmental policies leave entire communities vulnerable to water insecurity and health risks. And in both cases, it’s the ordinary people—the ones who stayed behind—who pay the price.
To further drive the point, the book compares the Foothills to the Rust Belt.
Chapter 2 dives into the shared pattern of collapse. Between 1990 and 2020, Rust Belt states like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania lost over 800,000 manufacturing jobs—a 32.65% drop. The Foothills lost 15,000, nearly 30%. In 2009, Shell’s articles for The Hickory Hound analyzed Milken Institute data. Hickory ranked 191 out of 200 metros. The unemployment rate was 15.4%—on par with Flint at 16.5% and Detroit at 14.9%. These numbers weren’t outliers—they were indicators of long-term economic and civic breakdown.
But collapse isn’t the end of the story.
Some Rust Belt cities fought back. Pittsburgh turned itself into a tech and healthcare powerhouse. They didn’t just mourn lost steel—they retrained workers, repurposed infrastructure, and reimagined their future. The Foothills can do the same.
The Catawba River could be our turning point.
Here’s how.
Step one: Regional coordination.
The river spans multiple counties—yet for decades, these counties have operated in silos, duplicating efforts and missing shared opportunities. Chapter 18, The 20-County Challenge, argues for regional dashboards and shared governance models. The Catawba crisis demands a task force—uniting county leaders, nonprofits, businesses, and residents. They can monitor water quality, secure funding, and crack down on polluters. This isn’t charity—it’s survival.
Step two: Tying restoration to new industries.
Chapter 16, The Renewable Energy Play, outlines how Duke Energy is already building solar farms across the Foothills. If we combine this with regenerative agriculture, buffer zones, and smart land use, we can reduce runoff and protect water sources. Microgrids and local energy cooperatives could give communities both power and purpose. Many local workers already have HVAC and electrical skills—let’s create jobs that can’t be offshored and use them to protect the river.
Step three: Involve the youth.
Chapter 17, Community Education and Youth Retention, says it plainly: the Foothills must give young people a reason to stay. The Catawba River can be that reason. CVCC and area high schools could launch river-centric programs—where students monitor water quality, develop filtration technology, and advocate for environmental justice. These programs wouldn’t just teach—they’d empower. And they’d help restore a connection between youth and place.
This moment—this crisis—is a wake-up call. But it’s also a chance.
In 2009, The Hickory Hound wrote about how Hickory ranked 61st out of 63 metros in creative job sectors. That lack of imagination nearly doomed us once. We can’t let it happen again.
Look at Asheville. They turned tourism into a cultural engine.
Look at Winston-Salem. They built an innovation district on tobacco ruins.
Why not us? Why not the river?
Commander Shell writes that the Foothills doesn’t need “gloss.” We need grit. Honest, hard-fought progress. This river can’t be saved with slogans. It takes unity. Strategy. Sweat. And storytelling.
So what can you do?
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Contact your county commissioners.
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Ask CVCC and high schools to support water-focused youth programs.
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Share this podcast with your network.
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Make your voice heard—in Raleigh, in meetings, and online.
The Foothills Corridor has the tools. We just need the will. The river crisis isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of a blueprint for reinvention—one county, one river, one future at a time.
That’s it for this episode of The Hickory Hound Podcast. If you want to go deeper, send us feedback and tell us what topics matter to you. Let’s build something real.
This is Rachel, signing off.
Y’all come back now. You hear?
Part 1 - Catawba River Crisis: Charlotte’s Water Demand and the 25-Year Strain on Catawba County
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