Bear Creek is a tributary of the
Neuse River in North Carolina, USA. It drains an area of intensive agriculture, and is heavily polluted with nitrates.
Location
Bear Creek is a tributary of the Neuse River, the largest river in North Carolina.
The creek rises in the east of
Wayne County, North Carolina,
Wills Pond to the north of New Hope Road impounds Old Mill Branch, a tributary of Bear Creek that enters from the right (west) near the creek's headwaters.
Further north Bear Creek W/S Lake Number Three impounds the headwaters.
The creek flows southeast on the county line between Wayne and
Greene counties, it enters northwest
Lenoir County
Lenoir County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,122. Its county seat is Kinston, located on the Neuse River, across which the county has its territory.
Lenoir County comprises the K ...
and flows southeast to the Neuse River.
Bear Creek flows south under
U.S. Route 70
U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern United States, Southeastern, Southern Unite ...
between
Goldsboro and
Kinston.
The creek is named in local records as early as 1742.
Originally a bottom land swamp, it was drained by canals to allow farming in the early 20th century.
Bear Creek today drains an agricultural watershed, including crops and
intensive animal farming
Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while ...
.
Land use in the watershed is 67% agriculture, 25% forest, 5% water or wetland and 3% urban.
The creek is primarily fed by groundwater.
Restoration efforts
The creek receives high levels nitrate from frequent runoff of surface water.
Nitrogen delivery into the stream is enhanced by using tile drains to channelize runoff.
Bear Creek was continuously monitored from May 2002 to May 2003.
Drainage ditches in the watershed sometimes had nitrate concentrations above 10 mg/L.
Nitrate yields in the creek exceeded 810 kg N km
−2.
In an effort to restore the creek's natural functions, more than of drainage canals were backfilled in the Bear Creek-Sleepy Creek Core Restoration Area.
The large earthen levees were removed and replaced by lower, more natural structures to retain water.
The area was then planted with almost 50,000 young trees in 2001.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear Creek
Rivers of Wayne County, North Carolina
Rivers of Lenoir County, North Carolina
Tributaries of the Neuse River
Rivers of North Carolina