Swim Guide Watershed Report: Hiwassee River Watershed

For the Hiwassee River Watershed, the 2021 water quality testing season gave rise to laudable successes. It also illuminated the need for deliberate action in areas of most concern. We’ll start with the good news, including which water testing sites had the lowest bacteria counts across the watershed. Then, we’ll give you the year’s bad news by spotlighting sites with the highest bacteria counts. We’ll conclude with achievable solutions for the future and a call to action so you can continue to help us protect the places we share.

Before we dive into our water quality summary, let’s review important terminology to help us better understand the data our Clean Waters team worked so hard to collect, analyze, and report. Cfu, or colony forming unit, is a metric scientists use to estimate the number of microbes present per 100 milliliters of a singular water sample. Microbes (also known as microorganisms) include bacteria, algae, and fungi. Like most things, some microbes are good for human health and some aren’t. We test for E. coli bacteria because it’s the best indicator for the presence of microbes that pose threats to human health.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 235 cfu/100mL is the safe standard for primary recreational waters, where people are most likely to engage in recreational activities involving underwater immersion and potential water ingestion.

Good news headline: Lakes Largely Free of E. Coli and Other Pathogens

Twenty twenty-one has been kind to Hiwassee Lake, Lake Chatuge, and Late Nottely. Sites on these three lakes produced a total of 11 readings with zero E. coli or other pathogens. Hiwassee Lake at Hanging Dog secured this year’s prize for best site with an average E. coli count of 6.5 cfu/100mL.

About Our Swim Guide Program

Swim Guide is an international program used by Riverkeepers and other advocates to provide up-to-date recreational E. coli data for beaches, lakes, and rivers worldwide. E. coli is a bacteria found in the fecal waste of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and indicates contamination in our waterways. E. coli levels increase with rainfall events due to surface runoff and sewer overflow events.

Samples are collected every Wednesday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Volunteers collect surface water samples in a 100mL sample bottle and drop samples off at the lab, to be processed by MountainTrue staff. Results from samples are measured in MPN, the most probable number of colony-forming units (cfu). The EPA’s limit for recreational water quality is 235 cfu/100mL. The EPA estimates at that concentration, 8 in 1,000 people will contract an illness.

Pass/Fail results are updated every Friday on www.swimguide.org to inform the public about local water quality. We use the data generated from our Swim Guide Program to identify sites for follow-up sampling. We sample in both urban and rural areas. Determining the location and source of E. coli in our waterways is one way we can solve pollution problems.

Bacteria levels in Lake Chatuge’s swimming beaches at Jackrabbit Mountain and in Towns County, Georgia, were commendably low. With an average E. coli count of 25.4 cfu/100mL, Lake Nottely’s Poteete Creek Park swimming beach also passed the EPA’s 235 cfu/100mL safe primary recreation standard with flying colors. Additionally, Clay County’s Fires Creek proved to be in good condition.

While not as clean as Hiwassee Lake or Lake Chatuge, samples taken from Lake Nottely and along the Nottely River showcase the relatively clean quality of these western waters. We collected our water quality samples during the 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Fortunately, our testing site at Nottely Dam failed to pass the EPA’s safe primary recreation standard only once.

Bad news headline: Heavy Rains, Leaky Septic Systems, and Animal Agriculture are Culprits of Hiwassee River Watershed’s Bacteria Pollution

Our Valley River site at Konehete Park rushed into 2021’s top worst spot with an E. coli count of 914 cfu/100mL, failing to pass the EPA’s safe primary recreation standard 80% of the time. Years of continued bacteria pollution have sadly caused the lower end of the Valley River to remain on North Carolina’s List of Impaired and Threatened Waters.

Poor animal agricultural practices, domesticated Canada Goose populations, and leaky septic systems are the primary causes of pollution in the Valley River. Monthly testing conducted upstream in both Andrews and Marble indicate that the Valley River’s E. coli problem is presently contained in the lower third of the river system.

Similarly, animal agriculture in the Sweetwater Creek Watershed is likely a primary contributor to the Hiwassee River’s larger E. coli pollution problem. One of our worst testing sites along the Hiwassee River, Sweetwater Park’s average E. coli count of 396 cfu/100mL failed to pass the EPA’s safe primary recreation standard 40% of the time. Monthly testing conducted upstream and downstream of Sweetwater Park suggests the bacteria pollution is currently isolated in a small portion of the Hiwassee River, including the confluence of Sweetwater Creek.

Another one of our worst sites of 2021, Meeks Park II canoe/kayak launch on the Nottely River produced an average E. coli count of 342 cfu/100mL and failed to pass the EPA’s safe primary recreation standard 53% of the time.

The week of September 1 proved to be the summer’s worst, with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida wreaking havoc across much of the Southeast. On average, the Hiwassee River Watershed received four inches of rain in the 48 hours before that week’s samples were taken. Ida’s increased rainfall caused the average E. coli count across each of our 10 water quality testing sites to spike at 371 cfu/100mL.

The weeks of August 11 and 18 also saw portions of the Hiwassee River Watershed receive several inches of rainfall shortly before our samples were taken. Hurricane Fred’s surge of stormwater in mid-August resulted in the highest overall E. coli levels of the summer at seven of our testing sites.

Future news headline: Mitigating Threats Posed to Hiwassee River Watershed by Pollution

The Hiwassee River Watershed is relatively clean. Still, we must be wary of negative changes associated with future summer seasons’ heavy rains. Polluted stormwater runoff remains a formidable threat to the Hiwassee River Watershed and the whole of the Southern Blue Ridge.

Water quality will suffer as higher annual amounts of stormwater runoff enter local waters due to climate change. Poor animal agriculture practices, outdated stormwater infrastructure, and decrepit septic systems will lead to future declines in water quality. That’s why we need to take action to address climate change — a pressing issue that affects us all.

MountainTrue is currently working with our state legislators to reinstate the Waste Discharge Elimination (WaDE) program, which is focused on identifying and fixing impaired septic systems. We also aim to secure increased funding for County Soil and Water Conservation Districts through our work with the North Carolina State Legislature. This necessary funding would help farmers adopt additional best management practices, like fencing livestock out of waterways and installing stream buffers to mitigate bacteria-laden runoff.

We believe these solutions will significantly improve the Valley River’s water quality and positively impact other Hiwassee River Watershed sections.

Moving forward, MountainTrue will:

Encourage government officials to implement policies addressing land use and development impacts and make worthy investments to improve existing stormwater and septic system infrastructure.
Continue to monitor sites of most concern while aiming to pinpoint and eliminate sources of E. coli pollution at our newest testing sites in the near future.
Further develop valued relationships with community members and our local Soil and Water Conservation Districts to minimize threats posed to water quality by poor animal agriculture practices.

Want to learn more about our efforts to bring about clean water for all? Check out our ILoveRivers webpage and join MountainTrue’s dedicated community of volunteers to help us protect the places we share.

Swim Guide Watershed Report: Upper French Broad, Green & Broad River Watersheds

While the past year has been unkind to the French Broad River, the Green River Watershed — a headwater tributary of the Broad River — had a great year. Alternatively, the larger Broad River Watershed’s 2020-2021 highlight reel is less glamorous, but we’re happy to report commendable water quality improvement across this important watershed.

We’ll split this blog post into three sections, starting with a summary of our upper French Broad River Watershed data. Then, we’ll discuss the data we collected across the Green River and greater Broad River Watershed, summarize the good and bad news for each, and spotlight the water testing sites with the lowest and highest bacteria counts. We’ll conclude with achievable solutions for the future and a call to action so you can continue to help us protect the places we share.

Before we dive into our water quality summary, let’s review important terminology to help us better understand the data our Riverkeepers, volunteers, and Clean Waters teams worked so hard to collect, analyze, and report. Cfu, or colony forming unit, is a data metric scientists use to estimate the number of microbes present per 100 milliliters of a singular water sample. Microbes (also known as microorganisms) include bacteria, algae, and fungi. Like most things, some microbes are good for human health and some aren’t. We test for E. coli bacteria because it’s the best indicator for the presence of microbes that pose threats to human health.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 235 cfu/100mL is the safe standard for primary recreational waters, where people are most likely to engage in recreational activities involving underwater immersion and potential water ingestion.

First, let’s talk about the Upper French Broad River

About Our Swim Guide Program

Swim Guide is an international program used by Riverkeepers and other advocates to provide up-to-date recreational E. coli data for beaches, lakes, and rivers worldwide. E. coli is a bacteria found in the fecal waste of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and indicates contamination in our waterways. E. coli levels increase with rainfall events due to surface runoff and sewer overflow events.

Samples are collected every Wednesday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Volunteers collect surface water samples in a 100mL sample bottle and drop samples off at the lab, to be processed by MountainTrue staff. Results from samples are measured in MPN, the most probable number of colony-forming units (cfu). The EPA’s limit for recreational water quality is 235 cfu/100mL. The EPA estimates at that concentration, 8 in 1,000 people will contract an illness.

Pass/Fail results are updated every Friday on www.swimguide.org to inform the public about local water quality. We use the data generated from our Swim Guide Program to identify sites for follow-up sampling. We sample in both urban and rural areas. Determining the location and source of E. coli in our waterways is one way we can hold polluters accountable.

News headline: Upper French Broad Bedevilled by Bad Bacteria

The French Broad’s turbulent history with E. coli is well-known among watershed locals. Our two new testing sites along the upper French Broad at Lyons Mountain and Island Ford secured the top spots for worst water quality and highest bacteria count.

In Henderson County, Mud Creek at Brookside Camp Road experienced slight improvement from 2020 to 2021, but remains one of the worst sites we sample with an average E. coli count of 1535 cfu/100mL. Our data suggests a mix of animal agriculture, septic failures, and sewer overflows are the primary sources of E. coli pollution in Mud Creek.

The week of July 28 proved to be the summer’s worst. Just 23% of our French Broad River testing sites passed the EPA’s 235 cfu/100mL safe standard for primary recreational waters.

For more information about the larger French Broad River Watershed, check out this blog post.

Let’s move on to the Green River Watershed.

Good news headline: Green River Watershed Report Concludes ‘It’s Actually Pretty Easy Being Green’

We’re happy to report the past year saw the Green River Watershed boast no worst sites. With the exception of the week of August 18 during Hurricane Fred, all seven testing sites routinely passed the EPA’s safe standard throughout the summer.

Overall, the Green River’s water quality remains excellent for recreational users and fares much better than the French Broad River’s water quality. Out of 98 total samples, only nine failed to pass the EPA’s safe standard. Our data shows the Green River was clean 90.8% of the time we sampled it this summer.

Bad news headline: Rains of Climate Change Pose Threats to Overall Clean Green River

Users of the Green River Watershed enjoy a largely clean present. Still, the future is less certain with the potential for negative changes due to heavier summer rains. This summer saw Hurricane Fred wreak havoc across the watershed in mid-August, immediately resulting in poorer water quality. With an average value of 951.9 cfu/100mL per site, the week of August 18 proved to be the summer’s worst with six out of seven testing sites failing to pass the EPA’s safe standard.

Stormwater runoff pollution remains a formidable threat to the Green River Watershed and the whole of the Southern Blue Ridge. Without immediate and direct action, the Green River’s water quality will suffer as higher annual amounts of stormwater runoff enter the watershed due to climate change.

Now, let’s discuss the state of the Broad River Watershed.

Good news headline: Broad River Somewhat Less Bacteria-laden in 2021 than 2020

Sampled weekly from Memorial Day to Labor Day, our data concludes slight water quality improvement at all nine testing sites across the Broad River Watershed in both Rutherford and Cleveland counties from 2020-2021. We’re happy to say that the river continues to be a safe, reliable recreation spot.

Cleveland County’s Moss Lake maintains the title of best testing site, passing the EPA safe standard 100% of the time over the past two years.

Bad news headline: Development and Manure are Broad River’s Biggest Bacteria Blunders

Buffalo Creek has remained our worst testing site for two years, failing to pass the EPA’s safe standard 81% of the time. The high bacteria concentrations in Buffalo Creek are attenuated in Moss Lake, just 15 miles upstream. The nutrients associated with Buffalo Creek’s high bacteria levels continue to pose a risk for algal blooms in Moss Lake. Not all algal blooms are dangerous, but those with the potential to form in Moss Lake would pose a severe risk to water quality and surrounding biodiversity.

Lake Lure and the Rocky Broad have mixed testing results. Coupled with existing agriculture, ongoing development surrounding the Rocky Broad is likely causing an increase of bacteria-laden runoff during rain events.

Data from our two testing sites along the First Broad River indicate that the water is unsafe for recreation roughly 33% of the time. Poor agricultural practices like inadequate stream buffers and abundant cow and poultry manure in the river are the likely sources for the First Broad’s high E. coli levels.

Let’s wrap up our water quality discussion with two future news headlines:

1) Governments Must Step in to Mitigate Green River’s Worsened Water Quality

Existing stormwater infrastructure is outdated and inadequate. Local and state government action is needed to protect the Green River’s water quality from threats posed by climate change.

2) Remedying Broad River’s Bacteria Problem with Sound Policy, Infrastructure and Agriculture Investments

Despite incrementally improved water quality at each testing site, data collected from the Broad River Watershed still produced less than ideal results. The prevalence of E. coli in the watershed illuminates a dire need for workable solutions to lackluster development policies, poor agricultural practices, and deficient stormwater infrastructure.

Moving forward, MountainTrue will:

Encourage government officials to implement policies addressing land use and development impacts and make worthy investments to improve existing stormwater infrastructure.
Continue to monitor sites of most concern while aiming to pinpoint and eliminate sources of E. coli pollution at our newest testing sites in the near future.
Further develop valued relationships with community members to combat threats posed to water quality by poor animal agriculture practices.

Want to learn more about our efforts to bring about clean water for all? Check out our ILoveRivers webpage and join MountainTrue’s dedicated community of volunteers to help us protect the places we share.

Swim Guide Watershed Report: French Broad River

In the past year, the French Broad River Watershed experienced a range of highs and lows (we’re talking about bacteria counts, folks!). We’ll start with the good news, including which water testing sites had the lowest bacteria counts across the watershed. Then, we’ll give you the year’s bad news by spotlighting sites with the highest bacteria counts. We’ll conclude with achievable solutions for the future and a call to action so you can continue to help us protect the places we share.

Before we dive into our water quality summary, let’s review important terminology to help us better understand the data our Riverkeepers, volunteers, and Clean Waters teams worked so hard to collect, analyze, and report. Cfu, or colony forming unit, is a data metric scientists use to estimate the number of microbes present per 100 milliliters of a singular water sample. Microbes (also known as microorganisms) include bacteria, algae, and fungi. Like most things, some microbes are good for human health and some aren’t. We test for E. coli bacteria because it’s the best indicator for the presence of microbes that pose threats to human health.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 235 cfu/100mL is the safe standard for primary recreational waters, where people are most likely to engage in recreational activities involving underwater immersion and potential water ingestion.

Good news headline: French Broad Whitewater Sites Experience Applaudable Improvement in 2021

The French Broad in Madison County was cleaner this summer than in past Swim Guide seasons. Whitewater sections at Stackhouse, Hot Springs, and Big Laurel were some of the best testing sites. These sites routinely passed the EPA’s 235 cfu/100mL safe standard, improving from 2020-2021. Another popular whitewater section — the Pigeon River in Hartford, Tennessee — was clean all summer, with most weeks showing an E. coli count of zero.

Most of our testing sites experienced slight improvement this year compared to 2020’s testing results. This is likely due to less rainfall during the Memorial Day to Labor Day sampling season.

Bad news headline: French Broad Besieged by E. coli as Bacteria Battle Babbles on

About Our Swim Guide Program

Swim Guide is an international program used by Riverkeepers and other advocates to provide up-to-date recreational E. coli data for beaches, lakes, and rivers worldwide. E. coli is a bacteria found in the fecal waste of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and indicates contamination in our waterways. E. coli levels increase with rainfall events due to surface runoff and sewer overflow events.

Samples are collected every Wednesday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Volunteers collect surface water samples in a 100mL sample bottle and drop samples off at the lab, to be processed by MountainTrue staff. Results from samples are measured in MPN, the most probable number of colony-forming units (cfu). The EPA’s limit for recreational water quality is 235 cfu/100mL. The EPA estimates at that concentration, 8 in 1,000 people will contract an illness.

Pass/Fail results are updated every Friday on www.swimguide.org to inform the public about local water quality. We use the data generated from our Swim Guide Program to identify sites for follow-up sampling. We sample in both urban and rural areas. Determining the location and source of E. coli in our waterways is one way we can hold polluters accountable.

The French Broad’s long and sometimes stinky history with E. coli is no secret to watershed locals. Our riverkeepers, volunteers, and Clean Waters Teams kept keen (but not pink!) eyes out for harmful strains of this belligerent bacteria while conducting water quality tests at 40 sites across the French Broad River Watershed.

We added two new testing sites along the French Broad in Transylvania County at Lyons Mountain and Island Ford this year. Unfortunately, both sites’ water quality and bacteria count ranked among the worst. Our testing site in South Asheville’s Shiloh community secured the worst spot with a season average of 3393 cfu/100mL.

Hominy Creek in West Asheville remains an E. coli haven. Through separate DNA sampling, we’ve been able to identify cow and human waste as the top sources of E. coli in Hominy and Mud Creeks. At the same time, sewer overflows also negatively impact the latter. While Mud Creek at Brookside Camp Road experienced slight improvement from 2020 to 2021, it remains one of the worst sites we sample with an average E. coli count of 1535 cfu/100mL.

The week of July 28 proved to be the summer’s worst. Just 23% of the sites passed the EPA’s safe standard with 1283 cfu/100mL as the average value per site.

Future news headline: Staving off the French Broad’s Bacteria Pollution to Save Water Quality

While we saw a slight improvement this year, there’s much work that needs to be done to reduce bacterial pollution in the French Broad River. We’re advocating for additional funding for County Soil and Water Conservation Districts to help farmers implement additional best management practices, like keeping livestock out of waterways and installing stream buffers to mitigate harmful, bacteria-laden runoff. We believe these solutions will significantly improve water quality at Hominy Creek and other agricultural areas, engendering a free-flowing domino effect that will positively impact other French Broad River Watershed sections.

Moving forward, MountainTrue will:

Continue to monitor sites of most concern while aiming to pinpoint and eliminate sources of E. coli pollution at our newest testing sites.
Leverage our connections with city, county, and state officials while further developing valued relationships with community members to combat threats posed to water quality by animal agriculture, faulty wastewater infrastructure, and septic failures.

Want to learn more about our efforts to bring about clean water for all? Check out our ILoveRivers webpage and join MountainTrue’s dedicated community of volunteers to help us protect the places we share.

Join Us for an Annual Member Gathering in Your Area!

We are excited to be gathering in person this year to connect with our members, celebrate our MountainTrue Award winners, and see each others’ smiling faces!

Each year, MountainTrue hosts a gathering of our members to recognize and honor outstanding volunteers, vote on new board members, and reflect on a year of hard work and accomplishments. Due to the COVID resurgence, we are holding four separate outdoor events — one in each region — in order to reduce the size of our crowd and to protect the safety of others. All attendees are required to be vaccinated. We hope you can join us. If you have questions about any of these events, please contact Susan Bean at susan@mountaintrue.org. Registration is accessible below for both the High Country and Central Region events.

Check here to confirm that your membership is current, and if you are not a member you can join or renew when you RSVP!

Vaccination Required

Due to the high rate of COVID infections and hospitalizations across our region, we are requiring that all attendees be fully vaccinated in order to participate. Please come prepared to show proof of vaccination when you arrive. If you are not vaccinated, you will have an opportunity to vote for new and returning board members online.

October 7th – High Country Region
Valle Crucis Community Park in Banner Elk, NC
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Register

October 20th – Western Region
Big Bear Pavilion in Downtown Franklin, NC
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Register

October 26th – Southern Region
Guidon Brewing Company in Hendersonville, NC
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Register

October 28th – Central Region
HiWire Brewing Bier Garden in Asheville, NC
4:30 – 6:00PM

Register

Stand Up for these Principles at a Comprehensive Planning Meeting

MountainTrue is encouraging our members and supporters to take an active role in several comprehensive planning efforts throughout our region — specifically in Henderson County, Buncombe County and Bryson City. These comprehensive plans are an important opportunity for you to have a voice in how our local governments grow and develop to meet the challenges of climate change, a growing population and increased pressures on our built environment.

The comprehensive planning process in Henderson County is already underway. The county’s planning consultant has fielded a community survey to gauge local priorities. If you are a resident of Henderson County, we urge you to check out our guide and complete the survey.

Henderson County has also scheduled a series of public input meetings throughout the county from September through December. For a list of upcoming meeting dates, times and locations, visit this link.

Please attend one or more of these public input meetings. All meetings are open to anyone who lives in or does business in Henderson County. For your convenience, here are MountainTrue’s list of planning principles — the issues that all comprehensive plans should address:

Public Participation
Overall, we believe that communities should play a central role in planning for their future growth and development. We advocate for a design process that invites diverse voices, including those that have traditionally been excluded or ignored. The process should be equitable and inclusive of all communities and people regardless of class or clout.

Smart Growth
MountainTrue supports economic vitality and growth in Western North Carolina without compromising our mountain habitat. We champion our cities and small towns, which function as our communities’ economic, cultural, and residential centers. We encourage public and private development in these places where we’ve already made investments in infrastructure. At the same time, we discourage any expansion of infrastructure that induces sprawl into natural areas or the rural landscape. We advocate for a wide variety of housing choices and multiple modes of transportation.

Land Preservation
We support planning for development in a way that protects valued natural resources. We encourage communities to create a local source of dedicated funds to preserve open space and agricultural and forested lands. Planning can identify environmental features like wetlands, agricultural lands, forests and steep slopes and suggest strategies for preserving those resources from destruction or degradation by development.

Public Lands
MountainTrue advocates for the protection of our national and state forests in addition to our national, state, county and city parks and trails. We believe the management of public lands should maintain and restore their ecological integrity and promote recreational opportunities.

Clean Water
We work to preserve and restore waterways as healthy ecosystems as well as recreational and aesthetic resources. MountainTrue supports the development and enforcement of standards and regulations to protect surface and groundwater from pollution, litter, and development.

Clean Energy
MountainTrue supports the development of clean, sustainable, locally-produced energy. We are dedicated to helping communities transition to renewable energy. We work with local community members, policymakers and utilities to bring our region sustainable solutions for our energy demands and to promote energy efficiency.

Our Recommendation for the Henderson County Community Survey

Henderson Country has kicked off its Comprehensive Planning effort with a Community Survey. This is an important opportunity for you to have a voice in how our county grows and develops to meet the challenges of climate change, a growing population, and increased pressures on our built and natural environments.

This is a guide for members of MountainTrue who want to see our community grow sustainably and responsibly. The survey has 13 questions. Questions 2-7 are the most relevant to the work and issues of concern to MountainTrue, our members and supporters. Below we provide you with a list of suggestions, and a brief explanation for each of these questions.

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW
Check out the schedule of open houses. Save the date to participate in person.

9/14/21 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm – Dana Community Park
9/21/21 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm – Tuxedo Park
10/6/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College
10/12/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Hendersonville Main Library
10/18/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Edneyville Community Center
10/26/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Community Center at Crab Creek
11/3/21 from 4pm to 6pm – TBA
11/2/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Fletcher Library
11/9/21 from 4pm to 6pm – Etowah Library
For up-to-date meeting details, visit: https://www.hendersoncountync.gov/planning/page/county-comprehensive-plan

Question 2. Henderson County’s population has grown 38% between 2000 and 2020. If this growth trend continues, what potential impacts of growth are you most concerned about? (Select up to three)

As this question relates to MountainTrue’s principles, we recommend choosing answers that promote healthy communities, those that have increased sidewalks, bike lanes, greenway connections, and public transportation – methods of transportation that are equitable and serve all communities. We encourage long-range plans and land-use controls for more housing choice, and climate resilience — especially those that protect ecologically sensitive areas. With this in mind, we have reordered the options in accordance with trends that provide the greatest positive impact, and we recommend choosing three from the top of the list:

Loss of farmland, and/or impacts to natural resources
Housing availability/affordability
Other (please specify) Climate resiliency
Neighborhood density
Utility and infrastructure capacity
Outdoor recreation opportunities development

Question 3. The future of Henderson County is dependent upon a variety of factors. Which of the following factors should this 25-year comprehensive plan prioritize? (Select up to five)

The recommendations we made for answering question #2 above also relate to question #3, and we would add: Resilient forests are an asset to healthy communities as is good water quality, with strong stormwater rules and enforcement to support them. Our energy future, free from fossil fuels, is also a priority. While the survey lists many factors that deserve our attention, we encourage you to focus on the factors that deliver the greatest impact on our community. With this in mind, we recommend you choose your five from the top of the list, which we have arranged:

Protect open spaces/forests
Conservation of unique natural areas
Increase energy efficiency and reduce waste
Maintaining/improving water quality
Increase sidewalks/bike lanes/pedestrian connectivity
Farmland preservation
Reduce vulnerabilities to wildfire, flooding, and landslides
Increase public transportation options
Greenway connections
Coordinate with towns & cities on development
River access for boating & fishing

Question 4. What is one priority you would like the County to address in the next 2-5 years? Blank space provided.

“Minimize the County’s sewer and waterline obligations, reduce urban sprawl, and preserve the County’s rural character by reinvesting in the areas we’ve already developed. Increase housing choice, invite mixed use development, and center it around town centers and main thoroughfares.”

Question 5. Which of the following development types do you feel are missing from the County? (Select up to three)

We recommend choosing the development types that support density close to towns and cities in order to take pressure off of rural undeveloped areas. It is also the fiscally responsible choice to invest in the areas we have already developed, rather than extending new infrastructure to undeveloped lands. Choose your three from the top of the list, which we have arranged:

Other (please specify) Suggestion: Mixed-use infill development, expanding housing choices to include duplexes, triplexes and small multi-family courtyard units
Parks and recreation
Agriculture and agri-tourism

Question 6. Which is the single most important role for Henderson County government in the land use and zoning process, if any? (Would not apply to incorporated towns, cities, or villages)

We recommend choosing: Enhance regulations of property land use MountainTrue supports stronger regulations that limit construction on steep slopes and in flood plains, and ensure that new developments don’t negatively impact communities and our natural environment.

Question 7. When making decisions related to land use, should the County Board of Commissioners weigh the impact to the property owners closest to the proposed project more so than the overall benefit to the County as a whole?

We recommend you choose “Somewhat disagree.” While it is important that nearby property owners have a say in the process and that projects generally adhere to existing zoning regulations, the priority should be on making our community sustainable and livable for everyone. As such, we favor a balanced approach that weighs the interests of property owners with the needs of the greater community.