Searching for the Elusive White Squirrel
By Dani Halliday
THE HIGHWAY 64 PROJECT
Getting to Know a Riverkeeper
Reporters: Emily Leach, Reagan Mertz, and Audrey Nott
Riverkeepers are local and environmental advocates dedicated to protecting and restoring the health of rivers and the communities that depend on them. Acting as a voice for their waterways, riverkeepers monitor water quality, investigate pollution sources, and work with residents, policymakers, and businesses to promote sustainable practices. Their work is a blend of science, advocacy, and education, collecting data to identify threats while also empowering communities to take part in preserving clean, safe, and accessible water for communities.
​
In the Piedmont region, several riverkeepers oversee the major watersheds that flow through this transitional landscape between the mountains and the coastal plain. The riverkeepers play a crucial role in monitoring how climate change, development, and land-use patterns are affecting the health of rivers and surrounding ecosystems. With the Piedmont region experiencing increasing urbanization and more frequent heavy rainfall events, riverkeepers are often the first to document and respond to changes in streamflow, flooding, and water pollution. They provide critical insight into how human and environmental systems interact in real time.
The responsibilities of riverkeepers extend beyond simply monitoring rivers. They act as educators, community connectors, and defenders of environmental justice. They organize cleanups, advocate for stronger water protections, and ensure that vulnerable populations have a voice in decisions affecting local waterways. In the context of the Deep River and the Piedmont watersheds, riverkeepers serve as a bridge between science and community action, helping people understand how climate change impacts their rivers and inspiring collective efforts to build resilience for the future.
The riverkeeper for the Deep River, Stephanie Stephens, bridges together personal experience and professional advocacy as a part of her job. Raised in Cary, North Carolina, Stephens relied on Jordan Lake for her drinking water. Throughout her life, she experienced heartburn every time she drank the tap water. This sign of a deeper issue within the water quality sparked her interest in water and environmental science.
While attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), Stephens learned about the PFAS contamination in North Carolina’s waterways. Her undergrad research examined the perceptions of bottled water consumption in Greensboro. It was a geospatial study on how, why, and where people drink bottled water. Her research found that people, especially in lower-income communities, rely only on bottled water because they perceive it to be safer than tap water. This study was close to Stephens’s heart because she had also relied on plastic water bottles her whole life because of her heartburn problem.
Stephens ended up acquiring her master’s degree with a focus on the Deep River, which feeds the local drinking water in her hometown. During her graduate work, Stephens advocated for the establishment of a riverkeeper for the Deep River, a full circle moment when she filled that position years later.
The Deep Riverkeeper position and organization have only been around for 10 months. They only recently got their license in June 2025. Although this group became a nonprofit and Stephens became river keeper in January, prior to June, they still had riverkeeper licenses pending. Stephens has spent most of the recent months identifying the threats to the body of water and seeking support from local waterkeepers and other environmental organizations to showcase them to the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Stephens strongly emphasizes that community outreach and data are the most important parts of her job. She is in the process of getting to know her community and educating her targeted areas. Stephens is working on making her data as transparent and accessible to her communities as possible. She collects data in real time and releases it within a reasonable amount of time. For example, she reported and collected data after Storm Chantal hit the state over the summer in order to assess the storm’s impact on local water systems.
Looking ahead, Stephens wants to strengthen her partnerships with community members, policymakers, first responders, and meteorologists to prepare for future extreme events. Stephens has a strong commitment and thorough expertise, making her a strong foundation for the Deep Riverkeeper organization. The High Point region can rest assured that the Deep River is in good hands.
Data from the 2025 North Carolina Deep River Riverkeeper Swim Guide shows a strong pattern between rainfall events and spikes in E. coli levels across multiple sampling sites. Locations such as Worthville Dam, Franklinville Park, Allen H. Leonard Memorial Park, and Deep River Park Accesses recorded E. coli counts that exceeded 1,200 cfu/10 mL immediately following a period of heavy rainfall. In contrast, dry and sunny weeks consistently depicted E. coli levels below 200 cfu/100 mL, often near safe recreational thresholds. This trend illustrates how frequent and intense rainstorms, which are expected to get worse with climate change, elevate bacterial contamination through runoff from animal waste, sewer overflows, agricultural runoff, and other surface contaminants.
The summer of 2025 has made this connection clear. After Tropical Storm Chantal drenched the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, a second severe storm caused flash flooding across several Piedmont counties, pushing the Deep River past flood alert levels. When the water was sampled following the catastrophic flooding, nearly every site sampled showed that E. coli levels were over 1,200 cfu/100 mL. In certain areas, the contamination was traced to sewage overflows, while others saw pollution from agricultural and stormwater runoff. Together, the data reveal how the warming climate is transforming heavier rainfall into both a flooding and public health hazard, linking climate-driven storms to spikes in bacterial contamination across the Deep River watershed.
Stephens’s work, and that of other riverkeepers across the Piedmont, underscores a broader mission of continuing to connect environmental protection with community well-being. By combining scientific data, public education, and advocacy, riverkeepers like Stephens transform climate science into actionable local knowledge. The efforts of the riverkeepers in the Piedmont region aid in safeguarding water quality, but also build trust, resiliency, and environmental justice within every community. As North Carolina, specifically the Piedmont, faces a future of heavier storms and the growing pressures of infrastructure development, the role of the riverkeepers is crucial in ensuring that the flow of clean water is central to all who live within the region.