week of 4/24/02
 
 
 
  LTWA reviews projects at annual meeting
By Beth Seay
The Little Tennessee Watershed Association discussed several ongoing projects at its quarterly meeting April 18 in Franklin.

Doug Johnson of the Macon Soil and Water Conservation District discussed the streambank reparation and restoration project, which assists landowners establishing buffer zones along river and stream banks, fencing out livestock and planting trees for stabilization. Johnson pointed out that the landowner only pays 25 percent of the pro-ject costs — the Soil and Water Conservation District supplies the remainder. This year’s projects — running from December 2001 through May 2002 — have included planting 5,600 feet of streambank.

Johnson said beavers have been a real challenge to the newly-planted trees and that sleeves have been added to the trees to discourage beaver damage. The county has also enrolled in a USDA project to trap the beavers, with some success.

LTWA Chairman Sharon Taylor pointed out that since its inception, the project has restored a total of eight miles of riverbank, at a minimum of 20 feet width.

George Sweet of the Macon County Watershed Council discussed proposed changes in the county’s watershed protection ordinance. These modifications would provide protection for the Little Tennessee below Lake Emory, “the most biologically complete stretch of river in North Carolina,” according to Sweet.

“The Council is concerned about maintaining this biodiversity,” Sweet said.

The Council is proposing these modifications to protect the river against point-source discharges from private sewage treatment facilities, as well as limiting construction density and impervious surfaces. A property owner near Iotla Bridge has applied for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for a point source discharge for a proposed RV park along the river at that site. There are currently no point-source discharges between Lake Emory and Fontana Dam.

According to previously published reports, the park would dump up to 26,760 gallons of treated sewage into the river from 175 RV site and 24 cottages. At Thursday’s meeting, Sweet pointed out that even if the treatment system is “particularly good,” breakdowns do occur and the treatment plant might fail.

Sweet said that the proposed changes would allow “traditional uses” to continue while limiting high density uses “within some proximity” to the river. The exact proximity has yet to be determined, according to Sweet, as does a final figure for the allowable percentage of impervious surface. “High density” might be defined as two houses per acre for single family dwellings.

The Watershed Council plans to present their suggestions for changes to the regulations at the monthly county commissioners’ meeting on Monday, May 6.

Callie Dobson, basin planner for North Carolina’s Division of Water Quality, said this week that the proposed changes are a “perfect example of local government attempting to forward-think” in terms of protecting the watershed and the environment.

Paul Carlson, director of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, discussed the pending disposition of the Needmore tract, which includes 25 miles of free-flowing river downstream from Franklin. Carlson called the stretch of river the “Noah’s ark of southern Appalachian rivers.” Duke Power previously owned the property, but transferred ownership to a subsidiary, Crescent Resources. Conservation groups are anxiously awaiting word from Crescent about the future of the property. Carlson said he hoped word would come by June allowing the state to acquire the property, which would then be managed by the Wildlife Resources Commission.