WATERSHED STUDIES: A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO SCIENCE EDUCATION AND SCIENCE LITERACY

Watershed studies provide the opportunity for an integrated, systems approach to the study of science in the middle and high school as well as at the University level. Science studies on the Cape Fear River watershed provide an excellent example of the role that science can and should play in public policy, economics, and societal issues. The discussion of the climate, soils, vegetation, topography, and more is evident. However, developing science literacy, or the ability to understand scientific issues to make informed decisions or logical arguments about them, is most important. A similar approach is possible for any watershed.

The Cape Fear River system is the largest watershed contained entirely within N.C. Its headwaters are in the Piedmont Province, it crosses the fall line, and then it flows through the Coastal Plain where blackwater tributaries enter the Cape Fear before the river enters the ocean near Southport. The underlying geology and the ecosystems are quite variable along the river course leading to different management issues, but the biggest issue for the watershed is the stress from a large and growing population. This growth has initiated competing interests for the “best” use of the water and the land in the watershed. But what is the best use? That of course depends upon your point of view. However, in science, we should weigh the facts and portray them honestly to the public and to decision makers for the best possible decisions. Issues in the Cape Fear watershed, some of which will be discussed, include 1) Increasing water demand, particularly in the face of drought and in the inter-basin transfer of public waters, 2) surface vs. aquifer use for water supplies, 3) anadromous fish populations and other threatened species, 4) concentrated animal operations, 5) stormwater runoff, 6) water quality, 7) mining operations, 8) port development, and 9) changing hydrology and/or urbanization that stresses or removes ecosystems.