The rivers in the area needed to be cleaned up. Not sure why people would be against that. My take is on the lack of supervision on the contractors doing the cleanup, the failure of our local elected officials to be transparent about their involvement, and failure of an overall public outreach by the COE to explain what the mission is & how its going to happen with respect for the environment.
I really wanted to avoid commenting but then read the statement by the Corps officer about the "2000 Year Flood" Dang that hyperbolic ignorance is just hard to ignore I think I saw a reddit thread where someone claimed it was a 10,000 year flood. Maybe that flood level was set when there was a really rapid melt of the last ice sheet? Anyway anyone reading this might be interested to learn about and subscribe to the NC FIMAN Network. Just google fiman.nc.gov. This program is especially useful for those of us who live along the coast or in the mountains. Sign up and you can get a text when a few chosen gauge sites reach a certain water level. The info can have a dual benefit for folks in the mountains as one can get not only some warning about flooding but information useful for fishing and river running as well. Anyway several of those green dots representing water level gauges in the NC mountains have been in working existence for decades or even more than a century (but not 2000 years!) . For example at quite a few long established gauges like French Broad River near Marshall - SITE ID: 03453500 where Helene came in 4th! one finds that while Helene was certainly special; it doesn't appear to have been a once in 2000 years event. Hopefully anyone reading this and exploring the Fiman site will find it useful and helpful. It's a great example of how government can serve the public with really useful information. We use it here to inform our neighbors; especially those more elderly or less mobile and on lower ground when they might want to move their vehicles to higher ground. I imagine for emergency situations it might be similarly useful in places along mountain bottomlands where flooding is predictable to a degree; like downtown Rosman.
The irony is that, under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and Section 10 of the Harbors and Rivers Act, it is not easy to obtain a Corp permit for any construction in or around waters of the United States. For designated trout streams one can double the difficulty and cost, and the NC Wildlife Resorces Commisaion must also be involved. Funny that what is required of the goose can be ignored for the gander.
Hey, Kirk. I did get that at some point but it's a small amount compared to the waterway clearance. Last time I wrote, about two weeks ago, total to date for clearance in the state was $2.4 billion.
Basically a good article, and I agree with most of what you’ve said, but would you please edit the paragraph about mussels that begins “Among the clear proof…”. It currently says exactly the opposite of your point.
Maybe a visit from DOGE would benefit the Corps. Power companies also send clearance crews that are overly zealous in clearing rights-of-way.
The rivers in the area needed to be cleaned up. Not sure why people would be against that. My take is on the lack of supervision on the contractors doing the cleanup, the failure of our local elected officials to be transparent about their involvement, and failure of an overall public outreach by the COE to explain what the mission is & how its going to happen with respect for the environment.
Don't think people are against it all. Just the amount of it, which was destructive and overly expensive.
I’ve heard some negative comments by self-proclaimed greenies that are against any cleanup of “natural” debris.
My comment is really about lack of transparency on details by elected officials.
I really wanted to avoid commenting but then read the statement by the Corps officer about the "2000 Year Flood" Dang that hyperbolic ignorance is just hard to ignore I think I saw a reddit thread where someone claimed it was a 10,000 year flood. Maybe that flood level was set when there was a really rapid melt of the last ice sheet? Anyway anyone reading this might be interested to learn about and subscribe to the NC FIMAN Network. Just google fiman.nc.gov. This program is especially useful for those of us who live along the coast or in the mountains. Sign up and you can get a text when a few chosen gauge sites reach a certain water level. The info can have a dual benefit for folks in the mountains as one can get not only some warning about flooding but information useful for fishing and river running as well. Anyway several of those green dots representing water level gauges in the NC mountains have been in working existence for decades or even more than a century (but not 2000 years!) . For example at quite a few long established gauges like French Broad River near Marshall - SITE ID: 03453500 where Helene came in 4th! one finds that while Helene was certainly special; it doesn't appear to have been a once in 2000 years event. Hopefully anyone reading this and exploring the Fiman site will find it useful and helpful. It's a great example of how government can serve the public with really useful information. We use it here to inform our neighbors; especially those more elderly or less mobile and on lower ground when they might want to move their vehicles to higher ground. I imagine for emergency situations it might be similarly useful in places along mountain bottomlands where flooding is predictable to a degree; like downtown Rosman.
The irony is that, under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and Section 10 of the Harbors and Rivers Act, it is not easy to obtain a Corp permit for any construction in or around waters of the United States. For designated trout streams one can double the difficulty and cost, and the NC Wildlife Resorces Commisaion must also be involved. Funny that what is required of the goose can be ignored for the gander.
Is there a total cost for debris clearance overall in Transylvania County?
Are there separate cost figures available for debris clearance from roads and from private communities?
Hey, Kirk. I did get that at some point but it's a small amount compared to the waterway clearance. Last time I wrote, about two weeks ago, total to date for clearance in the state was $2.4 billion.
Basically a good article, and I agree with most of what you’ve said, but would you please edit the paragraph about mussels that begins “Among the clear proof…”. It currently says exactly the opposite of your point.
I did change, but maybe have to send clarification out to subscribers who already recieved. Thanks