The context of the recreational opportunities that are provided by Duke Power is important in understanding, from a regional perspective, the opportunities that exist for the general public. The region that is considered for the Catawba-Wateree system is the area within 60 linear miles of the project. This is generally the area that is within about an hour's drive from the project. This region should be considered the area from which the public makes its decisions about where to recreate. All of the resources within this region, including Duke Power owned and operated sites, are providing opportunities to the same individuals. For ease of understanding and categorizing, the resources will be listed according to state and then according to managing entity.

NORTH CAROLINA

There is one Federal program that operates recreational facilities within the project region. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) operates two national forests within the project region, the Pisgah and Uwharrie National Forests. The forests offer opportunities for camping, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, boating, off-highway vehicle use, and fishing. The Appalachian Trail passes through the Pisgah National Forest.

The North Carolina state programs include State Parks, and areas run by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. There are seven state parks in the region; Mt. Mitchell, Mt. Jefferson, New River, Stone Mountain, Morrow Mountain, South Mountains, and Crowder's Mountain. The parks offer opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, horseback riding, camping, boating, walking, environmental education, fishing, and swimming. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission operates a number of boat ramps throughout the region. There are a total of 11 boat ramps in the region operated by the NCWRC in addition to those that are located on the Catawba-Wateree Lakes. They are on the South Yadkin River, Yadkin River, High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Lake, Badin Lake, Lake Tillery, and the PeeDee River.

There are a number of other major lakes and reservoirs in the region that supply a variety of recreational opportunities. Watauga Lake, Wilkesboro Reservoir, High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Lake, Badin Lake, Narrows Lake, Lake Tillery, Lake Lure, Lake Adger, and Moss Lake are all within 60 miles of the project.

North Carolina State Trails System also provides numerous recreation opportunities. The primary components of this trail system include greenways and open space preservation, as well as several types of trails. These trails include rails-to-trails, river trails, state park system trails, and other state trails. These trails provide a recreational travel via foot, horseback, bicycles, non-motorized water vehicles, two-wheel drive motorized vehicles, and multiple use trails.

County and local governments provide many recreational opportunities within the project area. There are 23 counties within the project area that are located within the project region. Counties offer a variety of opportunities generally tailored to the local population. Facilities tend to include parks with walking trails, playing fields, playgrounds, and picnic areas.

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina offers a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities through federal, state, and local governments, as well as through private facilities. Public outdoor recreation areas include state parks, scenic rivers, state forests, heritage preserves, wildlife management areas, trails and greenways, scenic highways, national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and local facilities.

At the Federal level there are three entities that provide recreational opportunities; the National Park Service, the USFS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Park Service operates Congaree Swamp National Monument, Cowpen's National Battlefield, and King's Mountain National Military Park. These areas provide opportunities for camping, boating, hiking, fishing, picnicking, environmental education programs, museums, auto touring, and horseback riding. Sumter National Forest provides opportunities for camping, hiking, boating, picnicking, mountain biking, off-highway vehicle trails, and interpretive trails. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operates the Carolina Sandhill National Wildlife Refuge. In this area, visitors can hike, hunt, fish, picnic, or view wildlife.

The ten state parks in the project region are King's Mountain, Chester, Dreher Island, Sesquicentennial, Poinsett, Woods Bay, Lee, Goodale, Cheraw, and Andrew Jackson. Recreational activities at state parks generally include natural or historic attractions, camping, lodging, picnicking, interpretive programs, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, nature trails, horseback and equestrian opportunities, playgrounds, golf, tennis, and community buildings. The South Carolina State forests within the project region provide opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing, and picnicking. The three state forests are Harbison, Manchester, and Sand Hills.

There are a number of large lakes and reservoirs in the project region that provide a variety of recreational opportunities. Monticello Reservoir, Parr Reservoir, Lake Murray, and Lake Marion are within 60 miles of the Catawba-Wateree system.

There are 6 South Carolina counties located within 60 miles of the project. Counties offer a variety of opportunities generally tailored to the local population. Facilities tend to include parks with walking trails, playing fields, playgrounds, and picnic areas.

The following section summarizes key characteristics for the entire Catawba-Wateree Project area, including classification of the shoreline areas, summary of public recreation access facilities, and a summary of the recreation use data collected during the 1999 study period. For more detailed information for each lake within the Catawba-Wateree system, see Section 4.0 of this report. Table 3.2-1 summarizes the shoreline classification for the 11 reservoirs within the Catawba-Wateree Project area.

Within the Catawba-Wateree Project area there are 51 developed Duke-owned public recreation access areas and 4 undeveloped Duke-owned access areas. There are 17 state, county or city parks, and 14 undeveloped park areas within the project area. There are 41 public commercial marinas, and 7 public residential marinas. Within the entire Catawba-Wateree Project area, there are about 16,479 private piers. Table 3.3-1 shows the type of access areas for each lake within the Catawba-Wateree system.

Within the 51 developed and 4 undeveloped Duke-owned public access areas, there are about 1,903.6 acres of land and about 145,096 feet of shoreline frontage associated with these areas. In addition, there are 118 boat ramps, 52 loading piers, 13 fishing piers, 542 car parking spaces, and 3,273 vehicle/trailer parking spaces within these access areas. Table 3.3-2 summarizes the facilities at these access areas for each lake.

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The average age of the survey respondents was 58.4 for Survey A; 49.6 for Survey B; 32.6 for Survey C; and 49.4 for the combined Surveys A, B, and C. Table 3.4-1 summarizes the distribution of male and female respondents for each survey category. For Survey A, about 63.5 percent of the respondents were from North Carolina and the remaining 36.5 percent were from South Carolina. For Survey B, about 84.3 percent were from North Carolina and 15.7 percent were from South Carolina. For Survey C about 75.7 percent were from North Carolina, 21.9 percent were from South Carolina, and the remaining 2.4 percent were from other states.

For Survey A, about 93 percent, and for Survey B about 33 percent of the respondents indicated they owned land abutting one of the lakes within the Catawba-Wateree Project area. For Survey C respondents, only one individual indicated they had land abutting a lake within the Catawba-Wateree system. Table 3.4-2 provides a summary of the distribution by lake of respondents for Surveys A and B who indicated they had land abutting the lakes.

Figure 3.4-1 shows the total visitation estimates by month during the 1999 study period at the Duke-owned public access areas within the Catawba-Wateree system. The visitation estimates were derived based on estimates of the traffic entering the Duke-owned public access areas. A visit is considered a vehicle or vehicle/trailer entering the site for any part of a day.

Total recreation visitation for the project area was derived based on the estimate of the ratio of the visitation indicated by Survey B respondents (boaters and residents) compared to Survey C respondents (recreators at the public access areas). This ratio was applied to the estimated visitation at the Duke-owned access areas to determine the estimated amount of visitation at other areas on the lakes. Table 3.4-3 summarizes the estimated visitation at the Duke-owned access areas and the total estimated use for each lake within the Catawba-Wateree system during the 1999 study period.

Table 3.4-4 shows the distribution of the lakes where respondents to Surveys A, B, and C combined indicated they primarily recreated. Lake Norman and Lake Wylie were the two highest lakes listed as areas where the respondents primarily recreated. Figure 3.4-2 shows the distribution of the recreation activity by type for the entire Catawba-Wateree Project area based on all data sources, including Surveys A, B, and C and spot and tailrace counts.

Tables 3.4-5 and 3.4-6 show the average perceived crowding ratings for each survey type and the combined Surveys A, B, and C based on weighted averages to show the overall average crowding rating, on a scale from 1 to 5, for all recreators that responded to the surveys. Generally, recreators at the public access areas (Survey C respondents) rated the overall crowding levels quite a bit lower than the recreators using private or private and public areas combined (Surveys A and B respondents).