Eastern North Carolina is home to eight different river basins; Lumber, Neuse, Cape Fear, White Oak, Tar-Pamlico, Roanoke, Chowan, and Pasquotank (NCWRC, 2011). Within these river basins are fertile agricultural lands that have propelled North Carolina into the top 3 in tobacco, hog production, poultry recipes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and turkeys (USDA, 2012 ). However, every river basin listed suffers from some form of water pollution, either in surface water, which is visible, or in groundwater, which goes largely unnoticed. It is ironic that it is precisely the factors that ensure prosperity in these regions that are causing the problems. How did this pollution in our basins occur and what are Eastern North Carolina residents doing to right these accumulated wrongs? It would be foolish to regress in the development of the coastal plain. The key to solving the pollution problem lies in continuing development while implementing conservation measures to correct the wrongs of past generations so that the river basins of the future are an enjoyable and profitable business for the people of the river basins from eastern North Carolina. When we hear about pollution of the water system, agriculture is almost always the first to be singled out. From Currituck to Lumberton, acres of agricultural crops are visible from the road. There are pick-your-own strawberry farms, pigsties with their lagoons, farmers' markets selling their fresh produce; people are literally overwhelmed by agriculture throughout the river basins of eastern North Carolina. It's natural that agriculture gets blamed, given all the exposure it receives in the community. Some of this blame is justifiable, however, because po...... middle of paper ... found on more than 140 miles of the river. Flathead catfish can get quite large, up to 123 pounds. Their rapid growth rates, coupled with their large mouths, make these fish-eating machines troublemakers for wildlife personnel. According to research by Dobbins, Cailteux, Midway and Leone, native species of catfish make up an important part of the flathead catfish's diet, along with native sunfish such as bluegill and bass at big mouth. Largemouth bass are the region's primary game fish and are of economic importance to the region. Although not a river, Jordan Lake experiences an influx of these aggressive predators with no way to stop them from dominating. Tom Kwak, a flathead catfish expert and professor at NC State University, said in an interview with the News & Observer that "...they also eat the food of largemouth bass...combined, they can reduce another species by 50%” (N&O, 2010).