The Catawba River District is both a geographic location on the Catawba River northwest of Charlotte, N.C., and the organization created by public and private groups to model how voluntary sustainable building, development and redevelopment practices can safeguard a natural treasure.

The Catawba and its impoundments of Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie provide drinking water, recreation and escape for a million people in the Charlotte region and a haven for a broad range of wildlife.

The River District straddles the Catawba from Paw Creek on Lake Wylie to the Hwy. 16 bridge on Mountain Island Lake. Within the district boundaries are:

• The historic mill communities and the business districts of two Gaston County cities, Belmont and Mount Holly.

• The Mountain Island Educational State Forest,

• The U.S. National Whitewater Center,

• Key stretches of the emerging regional Carolina Thread Trail.

• The historic Tuckaseegee Ford and Trail - used for many centuries by both native Americans and European settlers. Modern parks preserve the historic area on both sides of the Catawba.

• A SuperFund site that is being proposed for new life as a renewable energy eco-industrial park.

• Room for growth, including entitled future neighborhoods for more than 5,000 homes.

The richness of the river, if safeguarded, will create opportunities for both new and retrofitted residential and commercial subdivisions that, in turn, will lead to spectacular living and working conditions in an environmentally-friendly area.