What’s changed since Memorial Day — and why it matters for our region’s future
Opening: Memorial Day to Today
(September 9, 2025) - Back on May 25, 2025, our News and Views feature compared how Charlotte and Hickory frame the Catawba River’s challenges. The piece underscored a central tension: Charlotte’s scale versus Hickory’s sustainability. Charlotte draws more than 120 million gallons a day from the river, driven by rapid growth and urban sprawl. Hickory, by contrast, uses just 12 million gallons a day but feels downstream risks more acutely — sediment, pollution, and equity concerns when big-city withdrawals rise.
That original article argued that without regional fairness, the Catawba would become less a shared lifeline than a contested resource. This update looks at what’s changed in the three months since Memorial Day, and why the stakes for Hickory have only sharpened.
What’s New Since May
1. Statewide Moratorium on Interbasin Transfers
In June, the North Carolina General Assembly passed H850 (Session Law 2025-74), placing a moratorium on new interbasin transfers (IBTs). A companion bill, H694 (Session Law 2025-77), ordered a statewide water-transfer study. This action effectively pauses Charlotte Water’s IBT application to move 30 MGD to the Yadkin-Pee Dee Basin.
What it means for Hickory: The pause buys time. Upper-basin communities now have a window to press for conservation benchmarks, return-flow accounting, and drought safeguards before any IBT proceeds.
2. Water Quality Warnings
This summer, Mecklenburg County issued a harmful algal bloom advisory on Lake Norman, upstream in the Catawba chain. While not Lake Hickory itself, the event underscored nutrient stress across the system.
Meanwhile, Catawba Riverkeeper’s Swim Guide reported a patchwork of safe swimming sites alongside intermittent bacteria spikes. For Hickory families, that means weekly data checks remain essential to know which creeks and coves are safe.
What it means for Hickory: Upper-basin stormwater management, septic upkeep, and tributary monitoring are no longer “nice-to-haves.” They’re frontline defenses for safe recreation and affordable water treatment.
3. PFAS Rule Rollback
In mid-May, the EPA revised its 2024 PFAS drinking-water rule. Strict limits remain for PFOA and PFOS, but compliance deadlines for other PFAS compounds have been extended to 2031.
What it means for Hickory: Utilities have breathing room before mandatory upgrades, but residents face prolonged uncertainty. For an upstream basin like Hickory’s, this is an opportunity to double down on source reduction and pretreatment agreements with industries — cheaper than end-of-pipe fixes later.
4. Regional Planning Front and Center
Charlotte Water’s February 2025 update stressed growth, climate variability, and regulation as drivers of its IBT push. But with the moratorium in place, attention shifts to the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group and Duke Energy’s basin models. South Carolina also issued new WaterSC guidance this summer, signaling interstate coordination will tighten.
What it means for Hickory: The decisive moves will come not from Charlotte City Council chambers but from multi-state planning tables. Hickory’s voice must be heard there.
Why It Matters
For Hickory, the Catawba River is more than a backdrop — it’s the city’s growth ceiling and identity anchor. A hollowed middle class cannot thrive if its water base erodes. Rising housing costs, stagnant wages, and out-migration already weigh on the region. Add water insecurity, and the Shrinking Center theme grows sharper: when the foundations of community life hollow out, so does opportunity.
Charlotte’s framing of the river as a growth enabler contrasts with Hickory’s insistence on equity and sustainability. But unless these perspectives reconcile, the result is competition, not stewardship. For Hickory, the next decade is about defending its upstream position while proving that conservation, reuse, and fairness can balance growth with security.
Next Steps: What to Watch
Over the next 12–18 months:
· State hearings: Expect NC’s DEQ and EMC to seek basin input on IBT rules. Hickory voices must press for basin-first accounting — conservation, return-flows, drought triggers.
· Quality monitoring: Harmful algal blooms and bacteria spikes will return each summer. Residents should use tools like Swim Guide and support stormwater and septic upgrades in city budgets.
· PFAS engagement: With deadlines extended, upstream cities should lobby for pretreatment partnerships to cut pollutants before they reach the taps.
· Regional alignment: Keep eyes on CWWMG and WaterSC processes. These bodies — not just Charlotte — will shape Hickory’s water future.
Context and Links
Read the full Memorial Day feature
here:
👉 Hickory vs. Charlotte: Contrasting Views on the Catawba River’s Challenges
Earlier Hickory Hound articles in this
series:
– The Catawba River Crisis: Can Catawba
Keep Its Water?
– The Catawba River Crisis: Foothills
Perspective
– Can Hickory’s Youth Turn the River
Crisis?
Cheat Sheet, Obscure Words, Phrases, and Acronyms
