Surface Water Quality and Landscape Gradients in the North Carolina Cape Fear River Basin The Key Role of Fecal Coliform

Although relationships between specific land types and water quality have been well established, studies that observe these relationships across large heterogeneous landscapes are less common. This paper seeks to add to the growing body of literature related to how various land use configurations might influence the geography of surface water quality across a large, heterogeneous river basin network like the Cape Fear River Basin (CFRB) in North Carolina. Findings suggest that fecal coliform bacteria concentrations that exceeded state standards were positively associated with transitional land types (i.e. mixed forest and low density developed-open space (< 20 percent impervious surfaces)), especially when these land types encircled urbanization in the upper reaches of the river basin in both 2001 and 2006. As a result, it is argued that the transition from mixed forest and low density developed-open space to a more urban environment provides a series of well recognized human activities within the landscape gradient that can increase fecal coliform counts.