Located just one hour from the Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC metropolitan areas, the Great Falls of the Catawba River has potential as a whitewater boating hotspot for the area. On October 23 and 24, a flow study conducted by Duke Power and attended by kayakers from throughout the region confirmed that Great Falls holds great promise as a highly coveted recreational boating stretch.

In late 2002, Duke Power applied to FERC to amend its license for the Catawba-Wateree project requesting modification of the project boundary to exclude two bypass reaches – stretches of riverbed where the natural water flow is diverted to generate power. One of these bypassed reaches was once the Great Falls of the Catawba, a series of high rapids neighboring a town which took the name Great Falls in regard for the local scenery.