Waccamaw Subbasin

The Waccamaw River is one of four major rivers that comprise the Pee Dee Basin or the Winyah Bay Watershed. It originates in Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina.

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The river encompasses over 18,000 square miles in the Carolinas. The Pee Dee and Waccamaw Rivers converge with the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to form a flow that empties into Winyah Bay from the north. The other two major rivers, the Black and the Sampit, flow from the west into Winyah Bay. This estuary has the largest watershed on the east coast and is especially unique as it is largely undeveloped.

Characteristics of the Waccamaw River Subbasin

• Water quality is good in the Waccamaw River and Winyah Bay Watershed since they are fairly undeveloped. They are used and managed as drinking water and a recreational resource.
• The river corridors in the Winyah Bay Watershed are an unique ecosystem that maintains the water quality while providing a means to store and transport water through Horry and Georgetown counties.
• In 1998, a 50,000-acre national wildlife refuge was created to protect the lower reach of the Waccamaw River, extending south from the City of Conway to Winyah Bay . This area has priority for protection in the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeastern Regional Wetlands Concept Plan, which is part of the National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan. The area is also a conservation priority of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture’s North American Waterfowl Management Plan.