The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River (WATR) has launched its Tuckasegee River Monitoring Project.

WATR intends to build a long-term statistical profile of the river based on a series of sampling points between the Tuckasegee community and Fontana Lake. This will give a good picture of normal conditions for the river, show clearly which areas contain trouble spots, and give an early warning of shifting trends.

The State of North Carolina has long kept individual monitoring stations on the Tuckasegee and has made occasional in-depth tests, but a sustained monitoring program covering the whole length of the river has never been attempted.

Under the direction of Mike Bolt, WATR will carry out the monitoring program using both trained technicians and citizen volunteers. They will test the river for sediment, fecal coliform bacteria, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and the presence of aquatic life.

WATR has been working closely with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality in designing this monitoring program and will continue that collaboration throughout the implementation of the plan. The Tennessee Valley Authority has given WATR a portable dissolved oxygen/temperature meter and the agency provides continuing support for the project.

For more information, call Mike Bolt 828.488.1645 or David Wheeler 828.586.3146.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News