Lake Rhodhiss is a relatively small lake within the Catawba-Wateree system, located northeast of Morganton in Burke and Caldwell counties, North Carolina. Lake Rhodhiss has a surface area of about 3,060 acres and 97.5 shoreline miles at full pond elevation of 995.1 feet msl. Table 4.2-1 summarizes the shoreline classification for Lake Rhodhiss, based on the SMP maps.

There are five developed Duke Power-owned public recreation access locations on Lake Rhodhiss and the Marsh Project area, leased by Duck's Unlimited and the State of North Carolina. Figure 4.2.1 shows the public recreation access locations. In addition, there is one commercial non-residential and one commercial residential marina that provide additional public access on Lake Rhodhiss. The following sections describe the Duke-owned public access areas and provide estimates of the number and type of commercial recreational access facilities at Lake Rhodhiss.

Existing Duke-Owned Public Access Areas

The developed Duke-owned public access areas provide about 247 acres and about 15,756 feet of shoreline frontage of public access at Lake Rhodhiss. Combined, the developed access areas have 11 public boat ramps, 6 loading piers, and about 350 car/trailer and 20 vehicle parking spaces. Table 4.2-2 summarizes the facilities at the public access areas. The NCWRC, under an agreement with Duke Power, maintains all of the access areas on Lake Rhodhiss.

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.2-1 Lake Rhodhiss Public Recreation Access Areas

In the 1994 SMP, Duke Power proposed improving the Castle Bridge access area (replace 1 ramp with 6 new ramps, replace 2 piers with 3 new piers and add 150 paved parking spaces), relocate the Tator Hole site (add 4 new ramps, two loading piers and add 100 paved parking spaces). In addition, Duke Power said it would add 5 acres of land at Castle Bridge (45 acres added), add 20 acres to the Conley Creek site (64 added) and provide 100 acres at the relocated Tator Hole site (now called the Rhodhiss site where 127 acres were provided). All of the commitments were met except for the provision of 4 boat ramps at the Rhodhiss site where, after consultation with the NCWRC and FERC, only 2 ramps and 1 pier were provided initially.

* Vehicle/Trailer parking areas

State and County Public Recreation Facilities

The Marsh Project area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss, upstream of the Huffman Bridge access area. The Marsh Project area is leased by Duck's Unlmited and the State of North Carolina and has about 27 acres and 4,000 feet of shoreline. The area provides opportunities for viewing wildlife and scenery.

Existing Commercial and Private Recreation Access

In addition to the Duke-owned public access areas, the public can gain access to Lake Rhodhiss through commercial non-residential and commercial residential marinas. Private access to Lake Rhodhiss is through a private marina and private piers along the Lake Rhodhiss shoreline. Table 4.2-3 summarizes the number and type of public and private commercial non-residential and commercial residential marina facilities. Table 4.2-4 summarizes the estimated number of private piers.

Site-Specific Descriptions of Existing Duke-owned Public Access Areas at Lake Rhodhiss

The following section provides a description of each Duke-owned public access area at Lake Rhodhiss, including a photograph, site characterisitics, site recreation facilities, and key recreation activities.

Johns River Access Area

The Johns River access area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss off Highway 18/64 near Chesterfield, North Carolina. Table 4.2-5 summarizes key site characteristics for the Johns River access area.

Huffman Bridge Access Area

The Huffman Bridge access area is located in the upper portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Burke County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-6 summarizes key site characteristics for the Huffman Bridge access area.

Castle Bridge Access Area

The Castle Bridge access area is located in the middle portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-7 summarizes key site characteristics for the Castle Bridge access area.

Conley Creek Access Area

The Conley Creek access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Rhodhiss along the northern shoreline in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-8 summarizes key site characteristics for the Conley Creek access area.

Rhodhiss Access Area

The Rhodhiss access area is located in the lower portion of Lake Rhodhiss near the Rhodhiss dam and hydroelectric station in Burke County, North Carolina. Table 4.2-9 summarizes key site characteristics for the Rhodhiss access area.

Recreation Use

Visitation at the public access areas on Lake Rhodhiss was derived based on estimates of the traffic entering the Duke-owned public access areas. Total estimated visitation during the 1999 study period for Lake Rhodhiss at these sites was about 228,010 visits. Figure 4.2-7 shows the distribution of the visitation for each month at Lake Rhodhiss for the Duke-owned public access areas during the 1999 study period. A visit is considered a vehicle or vehicle/trailer entering the site for any part of a day.

Table 4.2-10 shows the estimated recreation visitation based on the traffic counter data for the sampled sites during the 1999 study period. Of the Lake Rhodhiss Duke-owned access areas, Castle Bridge, Rhodhiss, and Conley Creek were estimated to have the greatest amount of use at about 51 percent, 22 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, of the total estimated use at the Lake Rhodhiss Duke-owned access areas.

Spot counts were conducted at 3 locations on Lake Rhodiss, Conley Creek, Johns River and Rhodiss Access Areas. Table 4.2-11 lists all of the spot count sites with the number of days per month of data collection.

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Based on survey data input, the estimated ratio for annual visits to the project area for Survey B respondents (respondents that use both public and private access areas) compared to Survey C respondents (respondents at the public access areas) was about a ratio of 1.27 to 1. The estimated overall recreational visitation for Lake Rhodhiss for the 1999 study period totaled 288,655 visits.

The total number of surveys received for each survey is listed in Table 4.2-12. Survey D was conducted of marina operators, therefore numbers of surveys sent and received were low. Figure 4.2-8 shows the distribution of recreation activity type for Survey B and Survey C categories. (There were no respondents for Lake Rhodhiss for Survey A since there are only three private piers on the lake). Figure 4.2-9 shows the distribution of recreation activity type combining data from Surveys B and C, spot counts, and tailrace counts. Based on the combined data sources, the primary recreation activities for Lake Rhodhiss during the 1999 study period were motor boating, boat fishing, bank/pier fishing, and swimming. For Lake Rhodhiss, about 17 percent of Survey B and 0 percent of Survey C respondents indicated they recreated on the islands. The combined responses to Surveys B and C indicated that about 3 percent overall recreated on the islands.

For Lake Rhodhiss, the average party size (average number of recreators in each party) for respondents to Survey B was 4.5 people and for Survey C was 2.6. The average party size for both B and C was 2.9. The average number of visits per year for Survey B was 31.5, for Survey C was 23.2, and for combined Survey B and C respondents was 24.5. The average length of stay for Survey B respondents was 6.8 hours, for Survey C respondents was 4.6 hours, and for combined Survey B and C respondents was 4.9 hours. About 2.4 percent of the respondents to Survey B indicated that Lake Rhodhiss was the lake they primarily recreated on within the Catawba-Wateree system.

Table 4.2-13 summarizes the perceived crowding ratings for Lake Rhodhiss for each survey type, including responses to Surveys D and E and a combined rating for Survey B and C responses. Recreators on Lake Rhodhiss (Surveys B and C) indicated that weekday crowding was about mid-range (on a scale of 1 to 5) and weekend crowding was rated as relatively high for survey respondents to Survey B, and low for respondents at the public access areas (Survey C). There was only one Survey D response rating the crowding on Lake Rhodhiss, and the lake rescue and management groups were asked for crowding ratings only for the higher use lakes within the Catawba-Wateree system, including James, Hickory, Norman , Wylie and Wateree.

* Weighted Average

Boating Use

Figure 4.2-10 shows the distribution of boating activity type for Lake Rhodhiss based on Surveys B and C individually comparing the percentage of each boating activity type to the overall boating use. The average boating party size was 4.9 for Survey B, 2.5 for Survey C, and 2.9 for the combined responses for Surveys B and C. The average number of hours boating was indicated as 6.4 hours for Survey B, 4.7 hours for Survey C, and 5.0 hours for the combined responses for Surveys B and C.

Of the individuals surveyed who primarily recreated on Lake Rhodhiss, 100 percent of the Survey B respondents and about 78 percent of the Survey C respondents owned boats. For the combined responses for Surveys B and C, about 82 percent of the respondents owned boats.

Table 4.2-14 summarizes the distribution of boat ownership by type of boat for Lake Rhodhiss. Motor boats comprised over 57 percent of the boat ownership compared to the other boat categories, followed by jet skis at about 17 percent. The ownership of motor boat types was about 38 percent for small motor boats (ranging 20 feet or less in size) and about 19 percent for medium motor boats (ranging between 21 to 40 feet in size).

Figure 4.2-11 shows the period of the day the respondents indicated they primarily boated, for Surveys B and C (no responses for Survey A were received). For Survey B about 2.6 percent and for Survey C about 9 percent indicated they primarily launched boats at Lake Rhodhiss. For the combined responses for Surveys B and C about 5 percent of the respondents primarily launched boats at Lake Rhodhiss compared to other lakes within the Catawba-Wateree system.

The overall boat carrying capacity is assessed based on the peak boating use estimates obtained during the aerial flyovers in the 1999 study period. The available boating acreage was adjusted from the base boats per acreage estimate (see Table 4.2-15) by the following factors (Warren and Rea, 1989):

Table 4.2-16 summarizes the assessment of the allowable overall boat capacity based on the usable boating water surface acreage and the boating activity mix identified from the surveys. Table 4.2-17 provides the assessment of the percent capacity of the boat use for Lake Rhodhiss on the peak day during the 1999 study period. Lake Rhodhiss during the weekday was estimated at 9 percent capacity, during the weekend at 7 percent capacity, and during the peak holiday period at 16 percent capacity for overall boating use.

The overall boat carrying capacity assessment provides an assessment of the total surface area of boating use. To assess the areas of the lakes with higher boating density, the general location of boating activity was recorded during the aerial flyovers for each day of aerial coverage. Figure 4.2-12 shows the location of boats during the peak use day for Lake Rhodhiss. Figure 4.2-13 shows the boating density on Lake Rhodhiss for the peak use day and areas with the greatest clustering of boating activity. Figure 4.2-14 shows the boat density map based on the composite of the five highest boating use days. This figure illustrates the areas with boating use most often occurred during the peak use days during the study period and provides an assessment of areas with high density boating during the study period.

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.2-12 Lake Rhodhiss Peak Use Day Boat Counts

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.2-13 Lake Rhodhiss Peak Use Day Boat Density Map

Click Here to View Full Figure 4.2-14 Lake Rhodhiss Composite Peak Use Boat Density Map

Lake Rhodhiss Estimated Future Recreational Demand

Table 4.2-18 provides the population projections for the counties within 50-60 miles of Lake Rhodhiss reservoir. Population projections were conducted for these impact zones using population data from the Office of State Planning for the counties in North Carolina and from the Office of Research and Statistics for the counties in South Carolina for 1970 through 1990 and population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2000, 2010, and 2020. An average percentage increase for each ten year period was calculated. The impact zone populations were then projected to the year 2050 using the average percentage growth for the entire time period.

Table 4.2-19 provides the estimated recreational use for the impact zone through the year 2050. Current use estimates are based on spot counts and responses to surveys. The recreational use projections were estimated by computing the projected population increase for the impact zone and incorporating indexed values for future recreational use for the various activities. The index values for each activity were obtained from "Outdoor Recreation in American Life: A National Assessment of Demand and Supply Trends" (Cordell, 1999). The indices are based on models that incorporate a number of variables, including age structure of the population, income, race, sex, and population density, as well as other explanatory variables. Full model parameters and estimates are available from the author.

Table 4.2-20 shows the estimated absorption percentage for the four major recreation activities that require specific lands and facilities. Picnicking, swimming, camping, and boating are activities that require specific developed facilities. The other activities listed are dispersed activities that can take place at a variety of undeveloped areas. The estimated 1999 use levels are from Table 4.2-19. The estimated demand is based on the impact zone population (population of all counties within 50-60 miles of the lake). The impact zone population is multiplied by the participation rate for the activity, which was obtained from "Emerging Markets for Outdoor Recreation in the United States: Based on the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment" by H. Ken Cordell, et al. Participation rates are for the South and are similar to 1995 North Carolina SCORP data. Specific participation rates are as follows: swimming, 37.3%; picnicking, 44.8%; camping, 22.4%; boating, 45.0%. The product of the impact zone population and participation rates are then multiplied by the estimated of number of days of participation for each activity, which were obtained from the 1995 North Carolina SCORP. The 1999 estimated number of participants for each activity was then divided by the 1999 estimated demand to obtain the estimated absorption percentage. Absorption percentage is defined as the percent of total demand for the impact zone that is met by the individual lake.

Table 4.2-21 provides the estimate of the recreational facilities land acreage needed to meet the future recreational demand through the year 2050. The weighted population is the estimated impact zone population multiplied by the participation rate for each activity. The facility standards and estimated acreage needs for the facility class are based on State SCORPS and FERC Guidelines for Outdoor Recreational Facilities. The facility need is the total facility need for the impact zone based on the weighted population and the facility standards. The total facility need is then multiplied by the absorption percentage to determine the facility need for Lake Rhodhiss. The acreage needs are then based on the Lake Rhodhiss facility need multiplied by per unit acreage needs that are based on State SCORPS and FERC Guidelines for Outdoor Recreation Facilities. For Lake Rhodhiss, it is estimated that 37 acres are required to accommodate future recreational facilities demand through the year 2050. This includes 1 acre of beaches, 3 acres of picnic areas, 11 acres of campsites, and 22 acres of boat ramps.

The estimated acreage needs for the reservoir are total usable acreage needs. Usable land acreage at existing developed public recreational facilities can be counted toward meeting these needs. Duke Power sites, county and state parks, and other private and public agencies will meet these needs. There are a number of state and county parks that are located on lands leased from Duke Power. These areas are not included in the discussion, as Duke Power owned access areas. Duke Power is expected to meet a portion of the future recreational land needs. The entire estimated need will be met by a combination of opportunities from all sources.

For Lake Rhodhiss, the most frequently identified recreational facility needs mentioned boat ramps, restrooms and picnic areas. In the past 5 years, 6 new boat ramps have been added to the lake and they are currently underutilized, so no additional boat ramps are proposed at this time. A picnic area is proposed by the Town of Sawmills at the Conley Creek access area. Restrooms will not be provided at unsupervised access areas because of the potential vandalism problems that could occur at these remote sites.

*Boating activities

Recreators were asked in the surveys if the existing recreational facilities within the Catawba-Wateree system met their recreational needs. For Lake Rhodhiss respondents, about 50 percent for Survey B (n=12), 80 percent for Survey C (n=65), and 75 percent for combined Surveys B and C stated the existing facilities met their needs. As stated in the previous sections, no comments were received from Survey A for Lake Rhodhiss. The primary facilities that were indicated as needed at Lake Rhodhiss included more boat ramps, picnic areas, and restroom facilities. In response to whether additional boating facilities were needed, about 92 percent for Survey B (n=12), 89 percent for Survey C (n=65), and 90 percent for combined Surveys B and C felt the existing boating facilities were adequate. The primary boating facilities that were indicated as needed at Lake Rhodhiss included more boat ramps and gas pump facilities.

About 50 percent for Survey B (n=12); 8 percent for Survey C (n=65); and 14 percent for combined Surveys B, and C indicated they had a negative experience while recreating. About 33 percent for Survey B (n=12); 11 percent for Survey C (n=65); and 14 percent for combined Surveys B and C indicated they had felt jeopardized while recreating. The primary reasons listed for the negative experiences and incidences when recreators felt jeopardized were reckless or inconsiderate jet ski use and boat use by other recreators. In addition, a few respondents commented on litter and trash in the area.

In terms of responses to additional comments, many respondents to Surveys B and C stated concerns associated with boating use on Lake Rhodhiss. The primary concerns were related to safety factors associated with improper use of jet skis and boats and boat users not understanding and/or adhering to boat laws and common sense boating safety measures.

When asked if they could change one thing, respondents to Surveys B and C commented they would like to see more public access, controlled shoreline development, and clean-up of trash and litter. Respondents also commented they would like to see better law enforcement and require boaters and jet skiers to take safety courses. No comments were received from Survey D for Lake Rhodhiss. Respondents to Survey E commented overcrowding was occurring at public boat ramps and access areas, and indicated the need for speed limits on the lake.