The Wateree River is a continuation of the Catawba River, which flows from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina; the Catawba and Wateree are the same river with different names assigned to sections of it. The name change occurs at the point where Wateree Creek empties into Lake Wateree which is formed by Wateree Hydro Station Dam, a Duke Energy hydroelectric dam, in Kershaw County, South Carolina. The Wateree flows generally southward through Kershaw County and along the common boundary of Richland and Sumter counties, past the town of Camden. It joins the Congaree River to form the Santee River about 35 mi (55 km) southeast of Columbia.