The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Serv
ice (NRCS) has been directed to assist local landowners and communities to
implement watershed improvement practices. The purpose of this study was to
document current conditions in the Rocky River Watershed in North Carolina
and the Saluda River Watershed in South Carolina. A variety of watershed a
ssessment tools, including the NRCS Visual Stream Assessment (VSA), Stream
Habitat Assessment (SHA), Riparian Vegetation Index (RVI), Index of Biotic
Integrity (IBI), and Land Quality Index (LQI) were wed on a statistically r
epresentative portion of both watershed. Overall, the SHA, VSA, and RVI rat
ed the watersheds' condition as good, whereas the IBI rated them as fair. C
orrelations between IBI and the other indices were poor, perhaps indicating
these indices measure different features within the watersheds. The LQI em
phasized the need for better characterization of urban land and riparian co
rridors. Inclusion of suburban lawns with the urban land indicator improved
correlations between IBI and LQI by 20%. This pilot study suggests further
scrutiny in applying quantitative stream physical habitat measures to asse
ss watershed renditions. It also indicates additional study of the IBI by N
RCS. Resources devoted to statistical design were valuable and should provi
de the NRCS with a framework for conducting future watershed studies.