Stay Informed Archives – Page 10 of 103

Post-Helene Watershed Report: Watauga Riverkeeper

It’s been heartbreaking to witness the loss of life, the destruction, and the overwhelming feeling that we are on the teetering cusp of ecological collapse. Discovering these piles of dead hellbenders hit me harder than any coal ash spill or wastewater system failure. The devastation of the hurricane was exacerbated by years of spineless legislative lack of action and bureaucratic dithering when it comes to protecting the environment. We can fix that while we are at it. The scope and hard work of a region-wide recovery effort is daunting. We are up for the challenge, we have the passion, the skills, and the tools. The dams aren’t coming back, live stakes can be replanted. Our rivers and communities will recover.

Our team is also busy lobbying for a massive investment in the cleanup of our river. We are pushing the state for a $7 million river cleanup fund, so we can hire 200 out-of-work river guides to clean up our waterways. In this critical window of time, if we can invest the time and resources needed to clean up our waterways, by the start of the paddling season in the late spring, we can save many river businesses and be a moral boost to our community; a statement to the flood that knocked us down that we are getting back up. We have already taken numerous water samples, and despite the impact of the storm and the damage to our wastewater treatment systems, the water quality in many areas doesn’t look nearly as bad as I feared.

Public access points to the river have all taken a beating. We have organized cleanup days and shared a Debris Removal Reporting Form. We are hosting cleanups at our beloved public access points and parks and will scale up watershed-wide to meet the need.

Lots of questions about water quality. Widespread impacts to infrastructure. Our Riverkeepers are sampling across the region. Many municipal and private wastewater treatment facilities have been impacted. We are seeing high levels of bacteria and other contaminants across the region. For now, we need you river lovers to keep yourselves safe, avoid contact with surface water, wear PPE for cleanup efforts, and hang in there.

I know it feels pretty grim, but a Herculean recovery process is underway. If your well was inundated with flood water contact your Riverkeeper or local health department for testing and treatment. Folks can get well-testing kits at the following location:

Johnson County, TN: Tennessee/NC State Line Resource Center (11878 US-421, Trade, TN) from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday – CLOSED Wednesday & Sunday.

If you can’t make it out to the Resource Center, fill out this form to let us know you’re interested, and we will do our best to service your area!

I’ve got extra gloves and waders. We’ve got work to do. Come join us in a generational watershed-scale restoration and recovery effort. We can build back better. Follow us on our social media channels (Watauga Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook), share our newsletters, donate. Come get down in the mud with us (but wear your PPE!). Action and hope are the only antidotes for despair in the wake of the flood. Hope you’re hanging in there. No more disaster pics, just uplifting recovery messaging from here. We love the way our community is showing up for each other. Stay with it.

-Watauga Riverkeeper Andy Hill

Post-Helene Watershed Report: Green Riverkeeper

I was getting ready to board a flight to our Global Waterkeeper Alliance Conference the Wednesday before Hurricane Helene hit, and I had a gut feeling that the home I would return to the following Sunday was going to be different. I had no idea what that would look like, but the Tuesday night before my flight, we already had five inches of rain in Saluda, and I knew it wasn’t going to stop. Watching Helene build from the outside was an entirely different traumatic experience. Seeing the catastrophic devastation surrounding our homes, rivers, and communities was heartbreaking and it felt like we were a million miles away with no way to help.

On Facebook, there was a local kayaking community page that I follow and multiple efforts were starting to unfold to get to those affected in the Green River Cove (the Lower Green) the Saturday after the storm. Houses were wiped off the map, folks were stranded with no way out, and there was no way to tell if lives had been taken by the floods that occurred Friday morning in the Gorge. I kept commenting in the group “You all can meet at my office in Saluda to make a plan, and when I get home Sunday, we can use the office for whatever is needed!” A good friend, Chris Wing from H20 Dreams, who also has a business on the Green River, reached out and said, “I have donation money and supplies…” and my response was, “I have the office space and parking.” We both asked, “We wanna do this?” (not knowing what “this” was)” and of course, our answer to each other was YES!

That Sunday, another Riverkeeper and I flew into Greenville/Spartanburg airport as our flight into Asheville was canceled. A friend picked us up with a truck loaded full of supplies and we headed towards Saluda.

The next week was a blur filled with love, support, community, and a lot of heroes. Out of my office, we ran a supply and donation relief effort for the local community, and we sent recon search and rescue teams out to affected areas where folks couldn’t be reached. We sent supplies, worked with local fire departments, alerted the correct personnel if there needed to be evacs, and set up a drive-through line for the community to come and gather supplies. It started with the kayaking community SHOWING UP Y’ALL and morphed into an all-hands-on-deck effort from the local community and beyond to help folks in WNC.

Fast forward to now and we have hired contractors to get the cars, houses, roofs, RVs, trailers, and more out of the river (HUGE thanks to Jake Jarvis from Precision Grading for all his hard work and huge heart to help WNC right now). We’ve tested numerous wells that were flooded for traces of E. coli, we’ve sampled the Lower Green for bacteria and will be testing for chemicals in the coming weeks, and we’ve raised funds for cleanup efforts and river restoration for the Green and Pacolet rivers!

As we move forward, we grieve the loss of our rivers and communities, but we feel immense gratitude to the community for their outpouring of love and support over the past month. We will be doing this restoration and resilience work for years to come, and I look forward to welcoming you all to assist in those efforts. We can’t do it without you.

Look for updates on our social media pages: Green Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook.

-Green Riverkeeper Erica Shanks

Post-Helene Watershed Report: French Broad Riverkeeper

I’m standing overlooking the bank of the Swannanoa River as I watch pieces of a house smack the side of the bridge, witness oil in the floodwaters pooling around a nearby hotel, and businesses and homes sinking underwater. I’m heartbroken as I watch people’s hopes and dreams float down the river and witness the destruction of the river I’ve spent the last 20 years trying to protect. My first thought is, I quit. I can’t imagine the scope and hard work it will take to bring back the river. But I am also incredibly stubborn and a few moments later, I reverse course and tell my son, “I’m not going out like this.” If it will take an army of volunteers and staff to clean up and bring our river back to life, then that’s what we’ll give it.

Since that evening, there have been a lot of late nights and early mornings. A lot of questionable food choices and dirty showerless days. We spent the early days running around the watershed and checking on the damage to the river and making sure friends and family were safe. Next, we realized there was an urgent need to provide hot meals to folks who didn’t have electricity, water, or a way to buy supplies, so we perfected the art of grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for hundreds of people from all corners of the watershed. Now, we are moving into the phase where we need to understand the impact on the river and start to dig out.

At first glance, the Asheville River District seemed beyond repair. There was so much trash and debris that I couldn’t fathom the scenario where it would ever be the same. Despite that, we organized a cleanup with around 150 people and removed about 650 bags of trash. After those few hours of cleaning, there was a remarkable improvement and it certainly provided me with hope that with the community behind us, we could do this.

Our team is also busy lobbying for a massive investment in the cleanup of our river. We are pushing the state for a $7 million river cleanup fund, so we can hire 200 out-of-work river guides to clean up our waterways. In this critical window of time, if we can invest the time and resources needed to clean up our waterways, by the start of the paddling season in the late spring, we can save many river businesses and be a moral boost to our community, a statement to the flood that knocked us down, that we are getting back up.

We have already taken numerous water samples, and despite the impact of the storm and the damage to our wastewater treatment systems, the water quality doesn’t look nearly as bad as I feared.

Despite the devastation I have never been more encouraged at how our community has come together. Seeing people from all walks of life, all income levels, all different backgrounds, and a variety of political persuasions come together to feed people, provide supplies to people, organize rescues, do wellness checks, and provide mental health resources, has made me realize that despite what we are told, we are all good people, and when we need each other, we are there for each other. If we can ignore the things that drive us apart and focus on what we have in common, which is our love for our mountains, rivers, and our communities, we’re all gonna be just fine.

Look for updates on our social media pages: French Broad Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook.

-French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson

Post-Helene Watershed Report: Broad Riverkeeper

Since the morning of September 27 when Helene hit North Carolina, I’ve been joining others who are pitching in to support neighbors, friends, and community members. We’ve cleared trees and limbs from driveways and roads, shared meals with neighbors, and volunteered to provide food to disadvantaged communities. We’ve been out in the field taking water samples to monitor water quality in the Broad River and tributaries, and sharing those results with river residents and river users. Communications with NCDEQ about Waste Water Treatment Plant failures and sewer overflows continue to inform us so that we can keep you informed. River sweeps, debris and blockage removal, and access cleanups will be a priority through the spring.

Three weeks out from the storm we realize, Mother Nature and the river will do what they are meant to do. All that water knows to do is flow downhill to the coast, and it has taken the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, human development can sometimes be in that path. We must learn to be more prepared for the changes that are sure to come with nature’s progression. Homes, businesses, and infrastructure built in our floodplains are not sustainable.

One example is the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) at Lake Lure. Built in the floodplain below the Lake Lure dam and over 50 years old, the treatment plant was inundated by flood waters during Hurricane Helene. It is now inoperable, and sewage from the collection system has been released into the Broad River below the Lake. We have been monitoring water quality for the last three weeks between Lake Lure and the Broad River Greenway — about 50 miles of river. Encouraging results are in from water sampling on October 21 with Rutherford Outdoor Coalition. Three weeks ago, there were very high concentrations of bacteria just downstream of Lake Lure and its damaged wastewater treatment plant. Two weeks ago, the bacteria was starting to be seen about 20 miles downstream at Grays and Coxe Road accesses. Last week, the bacteria had shown up at our Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs, about 50 miles below the Lake.

Though the levels are not extremely high (150 mpn, compared to the safe swimming recommended level of 126), we are still advising people to not swim in the river at this time. Conditions can change rapidly and we want you all to be safe.

Look for updates on our social media pages: Broad Riverkeeper Instagram + Facebook.

Hang in there, ask for help, and offer help where you can.

-Broad Riverkeeper David Caldwell

Hurricane Helene Recovery Update – October 23, 2024

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Last night, over a thousand people gathered in Pack Square in downtown Asheville for an interfaith service led by our political leaders to mourn our region’s losses. As the crowd swayed and sang “Lean on Me” led by a local choir, the connectedness of a suffering but hopeful people was palpable.

As we approach the one-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene’s landfall, it’s been inspiring to witness our mountain communities come together in powerful ways. Those less affected have stepped up to help their neighbors whose lives were disrupted, homes damaged, or lost.

In these challenging times, our community’s heart and strength have shone through—especially from our amazing supporters and volunteers. Whether you’ve brought supplies to local centers, served hot meals, joined a debris clean-up effort, or donated to our MountainStrong Recovery Fund, you’ve made a real difference.

With your help, we’ve raised $109,580, including a $20,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of WNC. If you haven’t contributed yet, we invite you to make a gift today.

Donate

Because of your support, we’ve been able to:

✔️Coordinate a robust relief effort in Yancey and Mitchell counties through our Creation Care covenant partners and other congregations.

✔️Test hundreds of wells and provide water filters to families affected by flooding.

✔️Conduct soil sampling to identify storm-related river pollution.

✔️Deploy chainsaw crews to clear fallen trees in northern Buncombe County and Bakersville, helping families regain access to their homes and properties.

See this week’s Response Roundup below to learn more about our recovery efforts.

Your generosity is driving MountainTrue’s work not only to lead the recovery but to ensure our region emerges stronger, more resilient, and better equipped to face future climate challenges. We still have much work ahead, and your continued support is critical. Together, we can rebuild our region to be stronger, healthier, and better prepared for tomorrow. Thank you for standing with us and for your unwavering commitment to our mountain communities.

Let’s continue to lean on each other,

Bob Wagner

Executive Director

MountainTrue’s Roundup: Responding to Hurricane Helene

Clean Waters Team

Public Safety Announcements

⚠️Read our Volunteer Safety Guidelines blog – always wear your PPE when participating in a cleanup or if you know you’ll come in contact with mud/sediment leftover from Helene.

⚠️MountainTrue’s Riverkeepers and Clean Waters Team ask that you stay out of rivers and waterways at the moment.

⚠️A message from the City of Asheville Water Resources Department: City of Asheville water customers remain under a boil water advisory — this water is not safe for drinking from the tap; water must be vigorously boiled for at least one minute before consumption. The water is safe for flushing toilets, laundry, showering (do not swallow water while showering), and washing dishes at a minimum of 170 degrees.

FBRK Well Sampling 1023 update email pic

Water samples being inventoried and prepared for analysis at MountainTrue’s Asheville office last week; riverkeepers came from far and wide to help the MountainTrue team sample local waterways!

Well Water Testing Updates

💧The Watauga Riverkeeper continues to offer free well testing in partnership with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Waterkeepers Carolina. 63 samples have been processed so far, with 30 more on the way — processed samples produced a 12.5% failure rate, indicating that the majority of wells tested by our team were not contaminated.

💧The French Broad Riverkeeper continues to offer free well testing. Over 135 drinking water wells have been sampled. Processed samples produced a ~10% failure rate, indicating that the majority of wells tested by our team were not contaminated.

💧Who should test: If your well has been flooded or flood waters pooled around your well, then we recommend having your well tested for bacteria pollution. We don’t recommend testing every well and there aren’t resources to test every well, so we’re asking that only wells that were flooded during Helene be tested. Where to get a well-testing kit:

✔️Buncombe County, NC – 10/29: multiple locations. Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

📍Barnardsville: Old Fire Station (1679 Barnardsville Hwy)

📍Fairview: Food Lion parking lot (1350 Charlotte Hwy)

📍Swannanoa: Blunt Pretzels (120 Alexander Pl)

✔️Henderson County, NC – 10/29: El Centro @ Jackson Park (801 4th Ave E, Hendersonville, NC). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

✔️Johnson County, TN: Tennessee/NC State Line Resource Center (11878 US-421, Trade, TN) from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily.

✔️Madison County, NC – 10/29 : Highland Station Coffee Shop (5247 US-25 #70, Marshall, NC 28753). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

✔️Yancey County, NC – 10/29: Rose’s parking lot (120 Reservoir Rd, Burnsville, NC 28714). Test kit pickup starting at 10 a.m., drop off samples by 3 p.m.

Soil and Water Pollution Testing Update

🔬Last week, Riverkeepers from across North Carolina, Alabama, and Pennsylvania came to help our team conduct expanded surface water and sediment testing throughout our WNC watersheds. Those samples are currently at the lab; we’ll communicate the results once we have them. Huge shoutout to the Haw River Assembly team, Coosa Riverkeeper, and Three Rivers Waterkeeper for their support!

🔬Results from the soil/sediment samples we took in Marshall, NC, the week after Helene are finally in — here’s what you need to know: Mountaintrue has taken almost a dozen water and sediment samples around the watershed at this point. We have the partial results back for one of those sediment samples from Marshall. Those results show we tested for about 135 pollutants and only two were present (isopropltoluene and trimethylbeneze). Out of those two, trimethylbeneze appears to be the one with the most health concerns. This pollutant is associated with petroleum and can present serious human health hazards. However, the scientific literature varies on what levels are problematic in sediments. We found trimethylbenzene at 23.9 ug/kg, which isn’t sky-high, but we still recommend avoiding skin and eye contact and using proper protection when working in or around the mud.

🔬The Watauga Riverkeeper is conducting surface water quality testing across the Watauga and New River basins; high levels of bacteria persist across the region.

🔬The Broad Riverkeeper is conducting surface water quality testing across the Broad River Basin. Two weeks ago, there were very high concentrations of bacteria just downstream of Lake Lure and its damaged wastewater treatment plant. Last week, the bacteria made its way ~20 miles downstream at Grays and Coxe Road accesses. This week, the bacteria showed up at the Broad River Greenway in Boiling Springs, ~40 miles below Lake Lure. Though bacteria levels aren’t extremely high, the Broad Riverkeeper advises folks to not swim in the river at this time.

High Country Outreach Coordinator Emma Crider in front of a pile of construction debris cleaned up from the Watauga River last week.

River Cleanups Update

🗑️~40 volunteers joined the French Broad Riverkeeper to help clean up Firefighter Island along the French Broad Paddle Trail on Tuesday, October 22. Volunteers collected 20 bags of trash and sorted/moved lots of construction debris. Shoutout to Smash Events LLC for donating a delicious catered lunch!

🗑️~100 volunteers joined the Watauga Riverkeeper to help clean up the Upper Gorge and Guy Ford river access points on the Watauga last Thursday and Saturday. Volunteers collected over 40 bags of trash and cleaned up lots of construction debris; the team returned found personal items back to the owners they could find and followed removal guidelines. The Watauga Riverkeeper team is also documenting large debris for targeted removal — if you know of large debris that needs to be removed, please submit information here.

🗑️Donations raised by Green Riverkeeper Erica Shanks have been used to contract with Jake Jarvis from Precision Grading to clean up portions of the Green River Cove in Saluda, NC. Jake has been working hard to haul trash out of the Lower Green — yesterday, he pulled out a huge dumpster that was filled with sand, a van, trailer, RV parts and more in just a one mile stretch. Jake has done so much for not only the residents down in the Cove, but also the river and we are so grateful for him! Jake is pulling trash out but leaving woody debris. The reason for this is because that woody debris can be used in the future for stream bank restoration efforts, and will create habitat for ecosystems to thrive again one day on the Green River.

🗑Upcoming river cleanups:

✔️Buncombe County, NC: 10:30 a.m. this Thursday, October 24. Click here for meeting location.

✔️Watauga County, NC: 9 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. this Thursday, October 24 at Clawson-Burnley Park in Boone. Register here.

Resilient Forests Team

Public Safety/Access Announcements

The Pisgah Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest is now open.

The MountainTrue and Wildwood Consulting chainsaw crew helping clean up the Asheville Botanical Garden on Monday, October 21.

Chainsaw Crew Updates

With funding from the WNC Community Foundation, MountainTrue and Wildwood Consulting have continued to send chainsaw crews to clean up debris in public and private spaces. Last week, the crews were in northern Buncombe County and Bakersville clearing fallen trees and debris and helping folks access their homes and properties.

Healthy Communities Team

Our Healthy Communities Team continues to engage in emergency response outreach, transportation infrastructure response, and tenant/renter relief in the wake of Helene in Henderson and Buncombe counties. Healthy Communities Director Chris Joyell talked to the Asheville Watchdog about the need to not give into “flood amnesia” and instead re-examine what and how we build in our flood plains — read the article here.

MountainTrue has partnered with Mountain Housing Opportunities and the Southern Environmental Law Center to secure a commitment from the City of Asheville to re-locate and remediate a storm debris processing site at Ford Street in the Deaverview community. Using this site to store and process debris would have prolonged a history of environmental injustice in this community. The City has committed to cleaning up the Ford Street site with the next two weeks.

Creation Care Alliance (CCA)

CCA Director Sarah Ogletree (left) poses with volunteers on/in front of donated generators and propane tanks from Portico Church in Charlottesville, VA. These donations are bound for a community in Mitchell County, NC, estimated to be without power through January 2025.

CCA Director Sarah Ogletree has continued matching impacted congregations in remote areas with resources and volunteers from unaffected faith communities through the CCA network. While congregations keep serving as hubs of community resilience and mutual aid, Sarah will continue monitoring distribution needs, connecting people and resources, and working in alignment with other mutual aid groups to create databases of folks who have resources and want to share them with those in need.

Volunteer Safety Guidelines Post-Helene: Personal Protective Equipment

Volunteer Safety Reminder: Always Wear Your PPE During Cleanups!

As more volunteers participate in river clean-ups and other recovery activities, many will be coming into contact with mud, sludge, sediment, and dust left behind by the storm. These materials may contain higher levels of pollutants and contaminants, so it’s important to take the necessary precautions to protect yourself.

To work safely, we recommend using the following personal protective equipment (PPE):

✔️Rubber boots that can be easily cleaned to prevent cross-contamination.

✔️Rubber gloves to protect your hands from direct contact with contaminated materials.

✔️N95 masks (or better) to reduce inhalation of harmful dust and particles.

✔️Long sleeves to protect your arms from direct contact with potentially harmful substances.

✔️Waterproof bandages to cover any cuts or abrasions, reducing the risk of infection.

✔️Safety glasses or goggles to shield your eyes from mud particles and dust.

After your clean-up activities, be sure to shower as soon as possible to remove any remaining contaminants from your skin and clothing. Given the lack of running water in many areas, you may want to arrange your shower plans before signing up for a clean-up. It’s also a good idea to make sure you are up to date on your tetanus shot.

By following these guidelines, you can help ensure your safety while helping our community recover.

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