N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.47: Effect of right of withdrawal on discharges of water.

Neither a right of withdrawal nor any assignment or transfer of said right may be asserted in defense against a claim that the method of releasing or discharging water is improper, that the quality of water has been impaired by the withdrawal or release of the water or by its return to the stream following its use, that water has been diverted without authority from the basin from which it was withdrawn, or that water resulting from augmentation of the natural streamflow to control water quality has been withdrawn. (1971, c. 111, s. 1.)