week of 5/7/03
 
 
 


Wetlands installation planned at Lake Junaluska
Proposed wetlands to curb sediment buildup, improve shoreline
By Don Hendershot

Since its creation 90 years ago, Lake Junaluska has been trying to revert to wetlands. As a part of state and federal permitting for dredging efforts this past winter, officials at Lake Junaluska have agreed to create about an acre of wetlands in the lake.

According to Joetta Rineheart, director of public relations at Lake Junaluska Assembly, the Assembly plans to construct about three-quarters of an acre of wetlands in the portion of the lake directly behind Jones Cafeteria. In addition to the wetlands, a shallow littoral shelf will be constructed along U.S. 19.

Appalachian Environmental Services of Whittier has done the engineering work for this year’s dredging project at Lake Junaluska and secured the necessary permits. Buddy Young, director of residential services at the lake, said that it was through this permitting process that Junaluska agreed to reclaim wetlands in the area behind the cafeteria. If left alone, natural processes would create a wetlands in the area.

The area where the wetlands will be created includes a narrow, shrub-covered peninsula that is already home to one species of wading bird. Little green herons, usually three pairs, have established a mini rookery in the shrubs.

Dave Dudek, wildlife professor at Haywood Community College, said that emergent and rooted wetland vegetation would serve to create a greater diversity of flora and fauna at the lake. According to Dudek, a wetlands would add to the trophic structure of the lake. Trophic literally means “to feed.” In an ecological context, trophic structure relates to feeding relationships that include predator-prey, host-parasite and plant-herbivore relationships among others. Dudek said the trophic structure of an ecosystem is based on photosynthesis. In lakes and wetlands, this process begins with phytoplankton (drifting aquatic plants, from microscopic diatoms to algae). The food chain builds from there. Besides adding to the trophic structure, vegetation in a wetlands could create more cover and nesting habitats.

Wetlands also help to protect the environment. Dudek said wetlands act like sponges and absorb sediment, pollutants and contaminants before they reach the water. The littoral shelf along U.S. 19 could help protect the lake from stormwater runoff from the road. A littoral shelf is simply a swath of land with a shallow slope that extends out from the edge of the lake.

According to Young, the littoral shelf at Lake Junaluska will be about 12 feet wide and six inches below lake depth. It will be planted with native plants and grasses. Young said the wetlands would make Junaluska healthier and more beautiful. He also said that to date most comments from home owners around the lake have been supportive. “A great number of the residents here are environmentally conscious,” Young said.

Along with plans for the wetlands and littoral shelf, this year’s dredging project at Junaluska created causeways that Young hopes will facilitate dredging in the future. The idea is to allow for less intensive maintenance dredging. In 2001, Lake Junaluska spent $500,000 to remove 133,000 cubic yards of sediment. Approximately 50,000 cubic yards were removed this year, according to Young.


Greenway plans moving ahead

Rineheart said that next fall and winter could be exciting times for the lake, with the construction of the wetlands and the creation of the trailhead for the Richland Creek Greenway Trail System. Dudek, who is president of the Richland Creek action committee said groundbreaking for the trailhead could begin this fall.

Young said that initial plans for the wetlands did not include any kind of trail or interpretive projects but that they were not out of question in the future.

“We want to wait and see how the wetlands comes out before we make any future plans,” Young said.

Dudek said he would encourage Lake Junaluska officials to seek funding from the Pigeon River Fund for interpretive and/or educational amenities at the newly created wetlands.