Stream Runs Free Again

By Scott Nicholson

Watauga County’s stream bank restoration continues to flow even after repairs have been completed from 2004 hurricane damage.
The Watauga County Soil and Water Conservation District recently oversaw completion of a project on Lance Creek, at the site of the former Camp Yonahlossee that is now a private development.
The project involved removal of a dam that was built in the mid-1900s and the return of the property to its natural state.
District conservationist Adam Keener said 500 feet of stream bank was totally restored, with stream banks, current design and plantings replacing the dammed pond, which was about an acre in size. The dam was about 15 to 20 feet high.
The county received a $260,000 grant from the N.C. Division of Water Quality for the project, and the county worked in cooperation with the Camp Yonahlossee Property Owner’s Association.
Keener said the area was open as a public-access park off Poplar Grove Road and the improvements should offer a number of environmental benefits.
“It will make a significant impact on aquatic habitats,” Keener said. “There’s a restored wetland that will provide significant habitat for everything from microinvertebrates to trout. The wetlands will also provide a flood plain and filtration system.”
The project began in October, with the contracted work performed by Environmental Services, Inc.
Keener’s office oversaw the work and the grant requirements, and said the removal of the dam was augmented with stream boulders, the planting of black willow, rhododendron and silky dogwood to stabilize the stream banks, and the installation of cross veins to both direct the water current and stabilize soil.
“We completely restructured the way the area will handle water,” Keener said, noting that the wetlands creates a natural flood plain that not only allows potential floodwater to disburse but also boosts wetland aquatic species, which have been facing threats from increased development.
The next stream bank restoration will occur along the South Fork of the New River.
The county has received a grant of nearly $170,000 to restore a 500-foot section of stream bank bordering Brookshire Park in Boone. Erosion of the bank due to changing stream flows and storms have threatened a walking trail at the park.
Upstream development changes the water’s course and can affect a complete waterway.
Keener said the Brookshire project will be mostly confined to the land and there will be little in-stream work, unlike the Yonahlossee project, in which a 500-foot section of Lance Creek was completely overhauled and practically recreated from scratch.
Keener said it generally takes two or three years for a stream bank to stabilize and restore itself to a more natural state after a project.
Native aquatic species begin to establish themselves and eventually the landscape looks much as it would if there had been no human intervention.
Engineering is underway on the Brookshire project, and Keener expects work to begin this summer.
The county commissioners are also exploring potential grants for flood restoration on the adjoining 75-acre property, which is being planned as a mixed-used development containing recreation, commercial sites and a possible affordable housing project.