Clean Water in the News

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer 

The Horsepasture River offers a wide variety of outdoor recreation activities. Abundant fishing and swimming holes and spectacular waterfalls attract visitors each year to Jackson and Transylvania counties.

Some, however, believe the river’s water quality is at risk because of increasing development pressures. That concern has prompted two North Carolina environmental groups to ask state officials to designate the Horsepasture River an “outstanding resource water.” This is the state’s highest level of protection for a waterway.

However, the push to reclassify the Horsepasture may have lost some of its momentum after a public hearing April 22 at the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library where most of the speakers voiced opposition to the new classification and the effect it could have on development.

Others complained that they were not notified by state agencies about the project.

Only four of the 16 speakers at the hearing advocated for the reclassification.

The outstanding resource water classification would only add a few additional guidelines for developments built near the watershed. The Horsepasture River is already classified a trout stream by the N.C. Division of Water Quality, which means developments along the river must have a minimum 25-foot non-disturbed buffer to keep sediment out of the stream.

If the watershed is reclassified, the ORW designation increases the setback by 5 feet to 30 feet.

Transylvania County Manager Artie Wilson said commissioners never received a notice about the reclassification effort. He said the board read about the project in the Transylvania Times newspaper.

“We have not had sufficient time to review the economic impact,” Wilson said.

He said the outstanding resource water classification could negatively affect the county’s largest employer, and without an economic impact study the county must object.

“We must oppose this recommendation at this time,” he said. “The board requests that you make officials aware of future proposals.”

Mark Meadows of Transylvania County said the reclassification could negatively impact his 450-acre tract of land.

“I am not against clean water,” he said. “But I stand opposed based on that fact that this river does not qualify.”

According to Meadows, the Horsepasture River’s water quality has been rated good to fair by the N.C. Division of Water Quality throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He says development has improved the river’s quality.

“Twenty-two years of development have done a good job in cleaning up the water,” he said. “If it has excellent water quality now, why do we need the additional regulations?”

Landowner Bill McNeely shared a similar opinion about the reclassification. McNeely owns a rock quarry in the proposed designation area and claims the reclassification will limit any future expansions.

“I think you can over-regulate, and what are the long-term effects?” he asked. “If you decide to do this, you are hurting the same people who have improved the water quality.”

McNeely also said he was unaware of the reclassification proposal. About 476 acres of McNeely’s land is in the watershed.

Transylvania County lacks a land-use plan, which may be a reason why some oppose to the additional regulations. Developments in Jackson must abide the county’s steep slope ordinance, which requires a 30-foot buffer from a stream.

Margaret Hartzell, an Environment North Carolina field organizer, explained why the new designation is important to her organization.

“The need to reclassify the Horsepasture River is clear. As development in the area increases, even our most pristine rivers are at risk,” said Hartzell. “The Horsepasture River brings tourism and boosts the economy. By reclassifying the river, it’s an added safeguard without impeding development.”

Sierra Club member Steve Rogers agreed with Hartzell.

Rogers said the area is a target for large-scale housing developments and natural resources like the Horsepasture River need to be protected.

“We’ve got to create some type of balance,” he said.

Despite the large turnout of opponents, Hartzell remains optimistic.

“Unfortunately people who opposed the project had a louder voice,” she said. “I think the support is still there to reclassify the river.”

The proposal

The Pisgah Group of the Sierra Club and Environment North Carolina requested that the Division of Water Quality consider designating the Horsepasture River an outstanding resource water in 2005.

Since receiving the request, officials at the N.C. Division of Water Quality have been examining the watershed to determine if it meets OWR standards (see infobox). Elizabeth Kountis, a Division of Water Quality environmental specialist, said the proposed reclassification would include the Horsepasture’s entire watershed, from its source to the North Carolina state line.

Water quality studies from 2006 show that the lower 4.6 miles of the river through Transylvania County has excellent water quality. Data also shows that this segment of the river contains endangered fish species such as the Turquoise Darter, Redeye Bass, and the Blackbanded Darter, she said.

The outstanding resource water would apply to the whole watershed, even though only 4.6 miles are tagged outstanding resource water, she added.

“You are going to get the highest level of protection if this watershed is designated an outstanding resource water,” she said.

Division of Water Quality will review all comments and submit a recommendation to the Environmental Management Commission. The commission can adopt or modify the DWQ proposal, Kountis explained. If the EMC approves it, the recommendation will be presented to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Those who oppose the commission’s decision can appeal to state lawmakers. An appeal must have at least 10 people who object. State representatives will review the case and make the final decision, she explained.

Development requirements

Development in an area designated an outstanding resource water must meet several requirements regarding sediment, erosion control and stormwater management.

Disturbed earth must be covered at all times. Also, a stormwater plan must be developed if a structure is going to occupy more than an acre of land.

Low- and high-density developments will have a new set of guidelines to meet. A low-density development can have only one home per acre. The structure must have a 30-foot setback from the stream if the building will disturb more than an acre of land.

High-density developments are required to control stormwater at the first inch of rainfall.

Kountis says these regulations will not stop future development from occurring. She says the Horsepasture already has a strict set of development guidelines because it’s a designated trout stream.

All watersheds that are classified as trout stream state developments must have a 25-foot buffer.

Kountis says this stipulation is much more stringent than the ORW low-density setback, she said.

Kountis added that trout stream designation has not stopped development.

Also, Jackson County’s steep slope ordinance currently requires developments to have a 30-foot buffer, she said.

Additionally, the ORW restricts new or expanded wastewater discharges including landfill discharges.

The classification will also require the N.C. Department of Transportation to set up a management plan for stormwater runoff. DOT is currently working on a widening project along U.S. 64 east of Cashiers. If the Horsepasture is reclassified, DOT will be required to make those improvements, she said.

Outstanding Resource Water Classification

The Horsepasture River meets the criteria to be designated an outstanding resource water. For a waterway to qualify it must be rated excellent by the Division of Water Quality and have at least one of the following resource values:

n Outstanding fish habitat or fisheries

n Unusually high level of water-based recreation, for example swimming, fishing, kayaking

n Some special designation such as N.C. or National Wild/scenic/natural/recreational river, National Wildlife Refuge

n Important component of state or national park or forest

n Special ecological or scientific significance or rare or endangered species habitat, research or educational areas

Outstanding Resource Water Regulations

A new set of regulations will be in place for the Horsepasture River if the Environmental Management Commissions gives its nod of approval. These new guidelines will affect approximately 19,137 acres and 36 miles of named waterways. If reclassified, new developments and wastewater discharge expansion projects, new landfills, new underground storage tanks and N.C. Department of Transportation projects would have to follow the OWR development guidelines. (see development requirements subhead)

According to officials at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resource Asheville office, there are no proposed development projects or plans to expand a wastewater plant in the proposed reclassification area.