The Catawba River, beset by growing water demand, drought and what critics say are failed policies to protect it, is the nation's most endangered river, an environmental group says.

American Rivers, a Washington-based advocacy group that has turned out most-endangered lists since 1986, put the Catawba at the top of its 2008 list to be released today.

The group accused Carolinas decision-makers of "sucking their rivers dry" to continue development as a historic drought lingers over the Catawba basin. Neither state, it said, has a long-term water plan to ensure the river survives future growth.

But public officials say the Catawba, the subject of detailed studies and the beneficiary of new conservation efforts, has been far from ignored.

The amount of water pulled from the Catawba is projected to more than double over the next 50 years, one of those studies shows. Charlotte's chief water supply, Mountain Island Lake, could struggle to meet demand during a severe drought by 2048.

"The biggest issue is simply the impact of population growth and development," said Rick Gaskins, executive director of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, which nominated the Catawba to the endangered list.

"It's not that you can't have growth and development with good environmental quality. It's that if we continue on the course we're on, we're headed for trouble."

For a century, electricity fueled by the Catawba has driven the Charlotte region's growth. But in recent years, that growth -- and the resulting clamor for water -- has strained the river.

Last year was the driest on record in the basin, and followed a four-year drought that ended in 2002. Public opposition to the quest for Catawba water from distant Concord and Kannapolis -- "stealing," American Rivers said -- focused attention on water rights. South Carolina sued North Carolina before the Supreme Court on that question; the case is pending.

"This is the bottom line, in my opinion: If your resources are stretched to the limit, your growth period is over," said Paul Braun, a long-time river advocate in Morganton. "Every summer, if it weren't for these lakes, that river would be bone dry."

Duke Energy's renewal of its federal license to manage the Catawba, to expire this year, focused attention on the basin's future.

Fifty-year projections of water supplies and demand are the most extensive analyses in the state. Local communities last year put into action a drought-response plan, created by the license terms, that is credited with keeping lake levels high as the dry spell continues. A water-management board, paid for by local water agencies in both Carolinas, was created in December.

"I look at this proposed new license as a really big improvement in the sustainable management of the river," said John Morris, director of the N.C. Division of Water Resources. "I see all those as positive things."

Year-round conservation programs -- American Rivers criticized a lack of them -- now have residential customers of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities using less water than at any time in recent history, says utility conservation manager Maeneen Klein.

"Nobody turned on their tap and didn't have water" during the record-dry 2007, Klein said. "If anything, this year has proved that we probably lead the state in protecting our water supplies."

Report: Not hopeless

American Rivers said the endangered list is meant to depict rivers "at a crossroads" in public policy, not necessarily those with the most severe problems."These aren't 10 hopeless rivers," spokesman Garrett Russo said. "These are things that can be fixed."

The Catawba's problems are far from solved, said N.C. Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-Marion, who agrees with the "endangered" label. Gillespie has been a legislative leader in making it harder for communities such as Concord and Kannapolis to siphon water from neighboring river basins, such as the Catawba.

"As of yet, we've not had a good debate on it," Gillespie said.

Bill Holman, a former state environment secretary now advising a legislative commission on water issues, said other N.C. rivers share the Catawba's problems. The Neuse River's appearances on the endangered-rivers list, he said, spurred policies to reduce nutrient pollution.

"I thought it helped move the debate at that time," Holman said.

The study commission now under way is designed only to look at the state's options in allocating water. Controlling growth, Holman said, remains a local issue.

South Carolina's legislature is also debating water issues, including a bill that would regulate withdrawals from rivers and lakes. The bill's chances of being enacted before the legislature recesses in early June are uncertain, observers say.

The "endangered" designation of the Catawba helps South Carolina's claim before the Supreme Court that the two states need a fairer way to share the water, said Mark Plowden of the S.C. Attorney General's office.

"When a national organization of that size and recognition singles out that very same river, it lends a great deal of credence to what we've been saying for two years."

Most endangered rivers, 2008

Catawba-Wateree (N.C.-S.C.)

Rogue River (Ore.)

Cache la Poudre (Col.)

St. Lawrence (N.Y., Canada)

Minnesota (S.D., Minn.)

St. Johns (Fla.)

Gila (N.M., Ariz.)

Allagash Wilderness Waterway (Maine)

Pearl (Miss., La.)

Niobrara (Wyo., Neb.)

SOURCE: American Rivers

A snapshot of the Catawba

Length: 225 miles (to the Wateree River).

Water held in reservoirs: 769 billion gallons.

Power produced: 9,281 megawatts.

Water use, 2006: 420 million gallons a day.

Projected water use, 2058: 946 million gallons a day

Total shoreline: 1727 miles

Developed: 44% .

Zoned for future development: 22%.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.