The Asheville watershed

  

Here's the first photo I've ever seen of the Asheville reservoir, in Black Mountain, named the Burnett Reservoir or North Fork Reservoir.

I'm involved with the Swanannoa River Watershed, which is slightly east of this reservoir, including a lot of the Black Mountain area.. The river that feeds the reservoir would have originally gone into the Swanannoa, which ends up in the French Broad River in Asheville.

Today's quote:

 

Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.

HAFIZ

Reprint from FaceBook

 A Bit of Buncombe and Beyond by Mary McPhail Standaert

January 3, 2023 “The Back Story”

Asheville began acquiring land in the upper North Fork Valley to provide water for its growing population in 1903, purchasing 4,700 acres from William Patton. The original trail to Mt. Mitchell was closed and rerouted through Montreat. The watershed lands are now approximately 15,000 acres. Some families sold willingly, others were forced to sell and to leave their ancestral homes which dated back to the 1790s. Some chose to put their money into the bank only to lose both land and money when the banks failed in 1930. Others refused to deposit the money, unwilling to acknowledge the right of the city of Asheville to take their property. The Mountain View Baptist Church and cemetery was relocated to higher grounds by church members. To this day, there are members of the original North Fork Valley settlers who speak of Asheville as the "Evil Empire." During the 1920s, families were expelled and forbidden to return, leaving generational memories behind. The Burnett Dam was not constructed until the early 1950s, three decades later.

The North Fork (of the Swannanoa River) Valley Watershed, Circa 1960s (Standaert Collection)

And here's a lovely song/music video

Today's quote:

latitudinarian  adjective: Holding broad and tolerant views, especially on matters of religion.

Craggy Gardens

 Burnett Reservoir (source of all water for Ashevile) really stood out well Oct 30, 2018, with most of the trees having none or brown leaves, and some green still on lower levels.

 Craggy tunnel of the Blue Ridge Parkway, where a lot of travelers passed through to go park on the other side of this ridge, where another parking area leads to a hike to the top of Craggy Gardens.

Rhododendron has all lost it's leaves, and the rocks show better on Craggy Mountain.  At the top there actually were some people looking down over the scenery.

Today's quote:

A bird is safe in its nest — but that is not what its wings are made for.

AMIT RAY

Asheville's reservoir

I posted a picture the other day (don't remember when, so I'll load it up again for you) of the Asheville Watershed sign on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  There's a really good attempt to keep the water pristine that rolls down these slopes into Burnett Reservoir.

From the Craggy Garden Visitors Center, you can see the reservoir, and on a clear day get a great picture.

The State of NC is trying to take control of the Asheville water away from local government, and Asheville is fighting against it, to keep our local water under local control is very important to us.

Sorry, I fell asleep at the switch, so to speak, and didn't post this at my usual early morning time.  But here it is now.