The Yadkin/Pee Dee River basin is the second largest river basin in the state, covering 7,213 square miles.  It includes eighty-three municipalities and all or part of twenty-four counties.  The basin is primarily located within the piedmont physiographic region of the state, but also drains the mountain and coastal plain regions.  Streams within each region are affected by the soils, geology and topography characteristic of that region.

The basin originates on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Caldwell, Wilkes and Surry Counties.  A small portion of the Yadkin River headwaters originates in Virginia.  It flows northeasterly for about 100 miles, then flows to the southeast until it joins the Uwharrie River to form the Pee Dee River.  The Pee Dee River continues flowing southeasterly through South Carolina to the Atlantic Ocean.  The North Carolina portion of the basin contains approximately 5,991 miles of freshwater streams and rivers. 

Based on 1990 census data, the population of the basin was 1.2 million people.  The most populated areas are in and near Winston-Salem and Charlotte.  The overall population density is 163 persons per square mile versus a statewide average of 123 persons per square mile.  While much of the basin contains rural areas surrounding small towns, many of the small to large cities have high density areas.  The population of the basin grew by 10 % between 1980 and 1990. 

Approximately one-half of the land comprising the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin is forested.  Statistics provided by the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) indicate that during the ten-year period from 1982 to 1992, there was a decrease in cultivated and uncultivated croplands.  The NRCS data also shows an increase in urban and built-up lands, pasture lands and "Other" lands, which primarily includes rural transportation (roads, railroads, rights of way).  Major land use activities in the basin include agriculture (crops and swine, poultry and cattle operations) and construction activities related to growth.  Iredell County has the largest dairy cattle population in the state.

There are a number of High Quality and Outstanding Resource Waters in the basin and many state and federally listed threatened and endangered species.  The Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin contains a high number of lakes which attract many tourists to the area.
 

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