Basin Basics

How many river basins are in North Carolina?

• 11

• 17

• 30

• 100

Each river basin is like a ____________with its own ____________.

• Tree; branches.

• Crucible of evolution; drainage basin.

• Living organism; circulatory system.

• River basin; river basins.

What happens at the Eastern Continental Divide?

• Water runs uphill.

• Nothing.

• Water on one side of the divide flows to the Arctic Ocean, and on the other side it flows to the Pacific Ocean.

• Water on one side of the divide flows to the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other side it flows to the Gulf of Mexico.

North Carolina was one of the first states in the country to use river basins as ____________.

• Swimming areas.

• Planning units.

• Storage.

• Energy sources.

What is interbasin transfer?

• Moving water within a river basin.

• Determining ownership of water resources.

• Moving water from one river basin to another.

• None of these.

Why is it important for citizens and government leaders to think about organizing the state in terms of river basins?

• River basins determine where cities can get drinking water and where they can discharge wastewater.

• River basins affect how water-based recreational resources are managed.

• Decisions that citizens make upstream in a river basin have consequences for everyone living downstream.

• River basins themselves are a large generator of pollution.

Provide an example of a controversial interbasin transfer.

• About 90 million gallons of water were taken out of the Roanoke River for use by Virginia Beach, Va., in the early 1990s.

• Pick the other one.

Why is interbasin transfer a problem?

• Population growth in cities makes water resources harder to manage

• If water resources are limited in each separate basin, sharing water may not be desirable to all users

• Moving the water is limited by law and technically difficult.

• Moved water cannot be taxed.

River basins are considered a ____________ of evolution because each basin has a long history separate from its neighbors’. Interdependent species have ____________ in individual river basins.

• Branch; homes.

• Crucible of evolution; coevolved.

• Living organism; circulatory systems.

• River basin; river basins.

How many species of fish have been found in North Carolina river basins?

• 200+

• 4000+

• 10

• 45