Citizen group urges proactive measures
Polk County Manager Ryan Whitson said he has confirmation that Henderson County has no interest in giving its approval for the reclassification of the Lake Adger watershed.
Whitson said he must now notify the state and turn over efforts to move the classification of the watershed from Class C (for recreational use) to a Class III, which would allow Lake Adger to be used for drinking water.
“It’s definitely not easier to go about it this way,” Whitson said. “If Henderson County had agreed to it I think it would have happened much faster…. Now I think it will be a much longer, drawn out process.”
Polk County purchased Lake Adger in 2009 for $1.6 million with plans to one day utilize it as a source for drinking water.
In order to be in a position to use the lake as a drinking water source, the county had to seek reclassification of the watershed. Polk originally wanted to see it changed to a class IV, which would have impacted land only in Polk County, but the state insisted the watershed be reclassified to a class III. This means the changes would also affect land in Henderson County (see page 5 for a map showing the watershed area).
Henderson County denied the request in 2009, with commissioners voting three to two against approving the plan. Polk County officials had hoped to try again with new Henderson commissioners, but Whitson said those efforts have also failed.
The state can still reclassify the watershed without Henderson County approval, but Whitson said there is very little precedence for going about reclassification in this manner. He said he believes it has been done before but he isn’t sure what that process will look like.
Concerned citizen group forms
In the meantime, concerned lake resident Sky Conard said there are numerous environmental concerns that could be addressed without the reclassification being finalized.
Conard recently formed the Green River Watershed Alliance to begin raising community support for proactive measures.
“I just came to understand as I studied the lake and its erosion issues that this is a real problem, but it’s something we can actually do something about – this is real work,” Conard said. “It has to do with the quality of our water and it has to do with how long our water is going to last.”
After a hefty rainstorm, Conard said she’s seen the water surrounding her home turn a murky color reminiscent of chocolate milk.
Conard began poring over research related to watersheds about a year and a half ago and believes county officials and concerned citizens must work together now to prepare for the lake to become a viable water source down the road.
The alliance held its first meeting with state and local officials back in early June.
Those taking part in the discussion included officials from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Division of Water Quality (DWQ), the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District, Polk County Agricultural Economic Development, Polk County Planning and Zoning, Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District, Americorps, Altamont Environmental and local conservancy groups such as Save our Slopes, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Western N.C. Alliance.
Conard and member Jaime Davidson also spoke briefly June 30 at the Transition Polk showing of “Code Blue: Water in the Mountains.” “Code Blue” is a documentary by David Weintraub, director of the Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO), headquartered in Hendersonville.
During this meeting, Elizabeth Kountis from the reclassifications unit of DWQ presented a watershed map and explained the reclassification of this watershed to Level III.
“Reclassifications are set out to protect water quality in its current state,” Kountis explained more recently. “It’s not designed to make things better, it’s just designed to protect things as is.”
Polk County Engineer David Odom said the state returned its technical analysis of the watershed about two months ago. He said the response confirmed the current water quality was in “excellent condition for use as a water supply.”
Conard, however, remains concerned about what she said is an increase of sediment in the lake.
“The No. 1 pollutant of drinking water is sediment – if you can prevent the sediment from filling the water there are so many benefits,” Conard said. “Erosion problems could take years to mitigate, so it would be nice if we could get that started with funding from the state.”
Conard said she feels all that has been considered thus far is what the Nature Conservancy calls “gray infrastructure,” such as pipes, the dam and a water treatment plant. What hasn’t been planned for, Conard said, is the “green infrastructure” of grasses and trees that could be planted between the land and water to serve as natural filters and prevent sediment from increasing in the waters.
County Manager Ryan Whitson said the county has worked to alleviate some of those issues through restrictions within various ordinances, such as the county’s subdivision ordinance. He said he does know that the issue of sediment will have to be addressed but said doing so could be costly if the county cannot find someone interested in using the sand and taking it away for little or no cost.
“As far as the silt in the lake goes, that is something we will have to look at some day but I’m not sure when,” Whitson said.
There is a planning phase through the North Carolina Watersource Protection Plan in which state officials will come out and assist in making an assessment of what potential problems could pop up, Conard said.
She said this would be preferable to “trying to deal with the issues after you’ve turned on the spigot and started drinking.”
Until further progress can be made related to an actual reclassification of the watershed, Conard said the alliance would help promote clean water and the sustainability of a valuable natural resource by providing educational materials to the community and speaking to local organizations.
She said residents and landowners around the lake need to understand soil and erosion laws, as well as promoting the value of restoring falling banks and putting out rain barrels to catch water.
“There is absolutely no reason why you should not be proactive and begin an environmentally protective watershed because it takes years to develop,” Conard said.