<< Back 10/23/02 Supporter of Dillsboro Dam seeks alternatives By Don Hendershot T.J. Walker has embarked on a mission to save the Dillsboro dam. Walker, the owner of the Dillsboro Inn, recently resigned from the Tuckasegee stakeholders team. Walker had been a member since March. The stakeholders team is a project of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute and was created nearly two years ago to help develop a set of consensus recommendations for Duke Power’s relicensing effort. “The stakeholder process is not fair,” Walker told Jackson County commissioners at their Oct. 17 meeting. He said Duke, which owns the dam and the powerhouse, wants to remove the dam for liability and business purposes. According to Walker, dam removal should be considered separately from mitigation and improvement projects. Walker bases his beliefs, in part, on a book: Dam Removal: Science and Decision Making, created by the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment established in honor of Sen. H. John Heinz (R-Ill.). The book states that the social context of a dam can be as important as environmental and biological factors. According to Walker, the stakeholders group was not putting enough emphasis on the social, historical and economic aspects of the Dillsboro Dam. Walker’s Dillsboro Inn sits on the bank of the Tuckasegee only a hundred feet or so below the dam. He freely admits that part of his passion is spurred by self-interest. But he thinks the social and economic impacts of the dam reach far beyond one businessman. “The dam is over 80 years old. It should be a historical landmark. Locals come here to fish below the dam and in the reservoir above the dam. “As a business owner in Dillsboro, I’m greatly concerned about the social and economic viability of our riverfront,” Walker said. Walker has been in a similar situation before. As a landscape contractor in Broward County, Fla., he worked with concerned citizens and environmental groups on streambank restoration along the New River. He said the county has several options to enhance the riverfront in Dillsboro to protect the historic and cultural resources and boost the economic impact. He pointed to recently constructed fishing parks in Bryson City and Gatlinburg. “We already have a park [Dillsboro Park] in the shadow of the dam. What I propose is connecting that to a fishing park in the reservoir above the dam,” Walker said. Walker said he would donate property he owns along the river and help in any way he could. “Locals already use my property for fishing, and I’m happy to have them. “If plans are made in a recreational context there is federal assistance available to help Jackson County raise funds. It’s the loss of this potential that irks me the most,” Walker said. Walker also questions the environmental benefits of removing the dam. He said that after 80 years, the dam has created its own riparian ecosystem above and below Dillsboro. Walker said local fishermen and guides have told him that the reservoir is quickly becoming established as a cold water fishery. He said he has been told that it serves as a wintering ground for trout released upstream as part of the state’s Catch and Release program. “I would like to put a call out to Jackson County fishermen to come out this winter and fish the reservoir to see if that’s true,” Walker said. He also wonders how Duke would deal with the sediment behind the dam if it were removed. “Locals have told me there used to a 25-foot-deep hole behind the dam. It’s only a couple of feet now, because no one dredges it. That sand is valuable stuff. If it was dredged every 10 years or so it could be used and the dam could be used as a silt trap. “I’m not a big proponent of dams. But this dam is here. It’s been here for 80 years. I believe there are better alternatives than just removing it. “I intend to work to garner support for keeping the dam. I want to make sure all the people of Jackson County are represented in this relicensing project.” Walker will be before the commissioners again at their Nov. 7 meeting.