The Green River is the largest tributary of the Broad River in North Carolina, and its headwaters are largely protected. As the river flows from its source in Henderson County to Lake Summit, it is impacted by agriculture, poor stream management practices, and a lack of appropriate riparian buffers. At Lake Summit, water is released downstream into the Green River Gorge, where the river receives additional flow from its confluence with the Big Hungry River. The Green River benefits from protected land as it travels through the Green River Game Lands and drops steeply down the Green River Narrows — a world-renowned whitewater paddling destination — before settling into Lake Adger in Polk County. The Green River flows into the Broad River near the Polk and Rutherford County Line. Major tributaries in the lower Green River Watershed include Walnut Creek from the north and White Oak Creek from the south.

The Broad River converges with the Second Broad River upstream of the Rutherford and Cleveland County Line. Originating in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Marion, the headwaters of the Second Broad quickly flow into the agriculture-rich Piedmont region near the towns of Rutherfordton, Spindale, and Forest City. Industry becomes more prominent as the Broad River flows east from Rutherford to Cleveland County.

The First Broad River's clean headwaters originate in the protected South Mountain Game Lands. The headwaters of the First Broad, including the North Fork (a designated Outstanding Resource Water), trickle down the south side of the rugged mountains. With peaks just under 3,000 feet and valleys thick with rhododendron and hemlock, these woodlands were saved from logging by residents in the basin, public and private conservation groups, and state government officials. Without this intervention, erosion caused by logging could have impaired water quality in a watershed that supplies drinking water for the City of Shelby and Cleveland County. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission now manages the 17,829-acre tract as the South Mountains Game Lands, which is adjacent to NC’s largest state park, the 20,000-acre South Mountains State Park.

Water quality declines as the First Broad enters the agriculture-rich Piedmont region, where cattle are often allowed to roam into local streams. There are over 100 industrial chicken operations in Cleveland County (most of which are in the First Broad River sub-basin) that apply large quantities of manure as crop fertilizer. Without adequate fencing and riparian buffers, agricultural runoff catalyzes erosion and increases turbidity and bacteria pollution. The First Broad River eventually meets the Broad River before flowing into South Carolina.

Overall, water quality in the basin is good, but habitat degradation, development, and stormwater runoff are increasingly impacting water quality. Stream habitats become stressed due to runoff from construction sites, residential areas, cropland, pastures, and paved areas that don’t allow water to soak into the soil. Stormwater transports eroded soil, fertilizer, and animal waste into surrounding waterways. Due to development pressures, there is also the need for efficient municipal wastewater treatment in the Broad River Basin, as well as properly constructed and maintained septic systems.