The water quality characteristics of the lower Haw River (Saxapahaw to the juncture with the New Hope River) and the New Hope River (downstream of Chapel Hill and Durham) have been evaluated on the basis of 19 water quality parameters. The stations on the New Hope River were sampled in the period July 1966 - February 1970 and the Haw River from December 1967 to February 1970. Projections, based on the estimates of the quality of the two river systems have been made of the probable water quality that might be expected in the New Hope Lake. Although water quality degrading materials transported by the Haw River are greater by factors of 5 to 7 times that of the New Hope, the oxygen balance in the Haw River at the location of the new lake indicates that the upstream contributions of oxygen consuming materials have been essentially stabilized and the oxygen resources of the Haw River are near normal. In contrast, although the New Hope River transports a substantially smaller pollution load in terms of quality degrading materials per unit of time, oxygen assets have not recovered to the same extent as in the Haw. (WRSIC abstract)