Restoring Town Creek

Protecting our water sources

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

Unless you live in or near Hayesville, chances are you don’t even know there is a Town Creek; however every time you come to town, if you are not coming from Tusquittee, you’ve got to cross the creek.

Town Creek meanders south of Hayesville passing undernearth the road near the new courthouse, in the dip of the road between the school and the old jail, and again near the VFW recreational fields, as it flows into the Hiwassee River. The reason you don’t see it is because its banks are overgrown with vegetation, much of it by invasive plants.

The Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition is getting set to restore the creek to its natural setting of an earlier time. The state of North Carolina had previously agreed to fund the project; however with its shrunken budget that funding was placed on hold. Recently, there are indications the state is going to free up the money so that project can move forward.

At the annual HRWC meeting on Saturday, Callie Moore, the executive director of HRWC, said they would be looking a coordinator to oversee this project. She said there would be several volunteer group from the county, the schools, the CCCRA and others to work together in this restoration project which is expected to kick off in August.

You might ask what’s wrong with letting non-native plants grow alongside our native plants? What harm can they do? Apparently, they can do a lot of harm. Some of them grow rapidly and crowd the native plants out. Many have shallow roots allowing erosion of the banks increasing the sediment in water making it unhealthy for fish insects and other aquatic wildlife. Over a period of time, a balance of nature has allowed local habitats to thrive. When exotic or invasive plants get introduced, it disrupts that natural balance of things. Several of the most common non -native plants have created havoc in our area. Some of the most common of these pests  are Japanese honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet, privet, kudzu and multiflora roses.

Restoring Town Creek to its earlier natural setting will help bring back a balance and diversity to part of our mountain environment. It is anticipated that other projects will be initiated in the future on the streams and creeks that flow into the Hiwassee River from the Chatuge Dam down to Mission Dam and on to Murphy.

The Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition, Inc. is a local, non-governmental conservation organization. It partners among landowners, residents, businesses and local governments in the upper Hiwassee River watershed. It has been in existence for more than 15 years, as local people became more and more concerned about the decline in mountain fish communities. The watershed itself roughly includes the four counties of Clay, Cherokee, Towns and Union, and includes the waters that flow into the Chatuge and Nottley Rivers.

The HRWC accomplishes its mission primarily through education and by providing technical and financial assistance for voluptuary water quality improvements. Among the activities of the coalition is the connect of in-depth studies that include regular water quality monitoring and projects to improve water quality where it is needed.

The HRWC believes that for water resources to be truly protected, citizens living within our watershed must understand and participate in protection and restoration efforts. You may visit their website at www.hrwc.net.