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Big Hungry confluence
Report
| Account | Stephen Hughes hits the "Big Wheelie Boof" just above Hammer Factor at 11" on the stick gauge. Best at higher levels like this, it can be hit lower, too, but it's not as nice. Nice shot of Hammer Factor at 11" on the stick gauge. Great Spring rains this year bumping the level up several inches higher than the 100% release. Seems like the water quality is going downhill, though, as the past couple of years have led to more and more brown water following heavy rains. Chris Roberts' May 6th, 2009 photo of a kinda dirty Toilet Bowl at 11" on the stick gauge, with Stephen Hughes coming through for a little scrub-a-dub. This is from a 100% release and a bunch of overnight rain. In this case a large share --- the lion's share? --- of the soil load came from Big Hungry Creek. Check a photo of the confluence from the same day. The brown color flushing through represents likely tons of sediment per day --- washing off of Henderson County developments, building projects, roads, farms, etc. --- and fast making its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Disgusting. After a series of emails with a USGS Sediment Specialist/Hydrologist, I have learned that an estimate of .01 ounces (.28 grams) of soil being carried downstream per gallon of water would be well within the range of what one could expect -- and may even be on the conservative side by a small multiple. Data exists for much larger rivers (with considerably less gradient) that corroborates this estimate. Hey, let's do some math: With .01 ounces of soil per gallon of water and what I'll call 600 cfs for streamflow (4,488 gallons/second), there would be over 120 tons of soil per day washing through the Green Narrows following modest rain events. To visualize this amount, 120 tons basically fills six large-size dump trucks. Six dump trucks over Gorilla. Could this possibly be correct? The math works out, the USGS fella backs the numbers, and all-in-all I think it stinks. The crayfish aren't happy, the trout and otters aren't happy, the paddlers aren't happy, the oysters downstream aren't happy, etc. To contact the proper soil conservation authorities about excessive erosion issues in any area, do it through the respective county's Soil and Water Conservation District offices. In Henderson County, the locale for much of the Green's watershed, you'd contact the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District. Arm yourself with a sense of professionalism, some maps and/or photos, and develop a relationship with the usually very sympathetic SWCD staffperson who handles whatever type of situation you are dealing with. To get more involved locally with identifying erosion prone developments and working with area soil conservation personnel, consider becoming a Muddy Water Watch volunteer. Here's a link to some more information about Riverlink's local training program: http://www.riverlink.org/muddywatch.asp. Green boater Ted Cookson has gone through the training and has been active in identifying issues in the Green watershed and working with the local SWCD staff. More people are needed. One final thought: During the very time this minor diatribe was being first-drafted here, the photographer and the paddler in the above photo were boofing themselves down Big Creek in the Smokies. Big Creek runs crystal clear following heavy rains of 2" and more --- the way it's "supposed to be". Where there's upstream development and roads, etc., one can't get to that level of water quality on our creeks, but we can do a whole lot better than we are doing, especially in a place like the Green. The current ethic surrounding erosion control practices in western North Carolina is, plain and simple, terrible. It can change slowly over time if more people get involved and call out bad behavior. JP This is a photo of the confluence with Big Hungry Creek, the Green's major tributary. Following overnight rains (don't know how much, the AFWS Dana gauge was broken), Big Hungry was feeding in a lot of dirty water. Depending where the rains fall in the watershed, and what kind of crappy-ass development is going on upstream in any given month, the "line" can be reversed, with Big Hungry looking cleaner than the Green at the confluence. Click here for the Toilet Bowl. |
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| Time | 2009-05-06 04:00:00 GMT |
| Reported Date | 1241582400 |
| River Reported | Green Narrows |
| Reporter | Author Of Report John Pilson Asheville, NC |
| River |
Green [NC]
2. Green Narrows IV-V+
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| Reported Level | 11" |
Photos/Videos page 1 of 4
Boof above Hammer Factor (#2)
Hammer Factor at 11"
Dirty Toilet Bowl
Big Hungry confluence
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