Haywood Waterways Association

What is the Hyatt Creek Restoration Project?
Why Hyatt Creek?
Why is Hyatt Creek on the 303(d) list?
What are the effects of erosion and sedimentation?
Who is eligible?
What to do if you're interested?
What kind of BMPs could be constructed on my property?
Who are the organizations?
How do you get more information?

Hyatt Creek Restoration Project Year 1 Report

Erosion and loss of land is an issue that affects the landowner.
Water quality is an issue that affects the entire community.

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1. What is the Hyatt Creek Restoration Project? return to top of page

The Hyatt Creek Restoration Project is basically about constructing Best Management Practices that help landowners protect their land from erosion and improve stream conditions in the community. There are two key points to remember as you read about this project:

This project operates on a volunteer-only basis, and
None of the organizations implementing the project are regulatory organizations. The Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District, the Southwestern North Carolina Resource Conservation & Development Council and the Haywood Waterways Association are providing financial and technical assistance to any interested landowner.

The partnership of the Soil & Water Conservation District, RC&D Council and HWA has a history of helping landowners conserve their land. We want to help you.

We believe it's safe to say everyone wants clean water, whether it is for drinking, fishing, playing or for our pets and livestock. The organizations in charge of the Hyatt Creek Restoration Project want to help clean and maintain the streams in our community. We want to do it in a way that doesn't interfere with a landowner's rights or livelihood. We are not anti-development. We recognize the importance of a growing economy and clean water. We believe we can have both. However, it we don't act now, water quality will only get worse as more people move to the area. Let's work together to clean up Hyatt Creek and its tributaries. Our children, our grandchildren and our neighbors will thank us!

2. Why Hyatt Creek? return to top of page
Hyatt Creek is on the NC Division of Water Quality 303(d) list of impaired waterways. This is a list of all streams in the county (each state has their own list) that do no meet state water quality standards. There are standards for water supply watershed, trout streams, livestock, drinking water, recreation, aquatic life, and industrial intakes. If a stream does not meet those standards then it is placed on the list. The Hyatt Creek Restoration Group has received special grant funding to help remove the pollution sources. Our goal is to get Hyatt Creek off the list!
The Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District and Southwestern Resource Conservation & Development Council have a history of helping landowners protect their land by using conservation practices. Haywood Waterways Association is a relative newcomer to the community (we were officially recognized as a nonprofit in 1998). Haywood Waterways helps the Soil & Water Conservation District and RC&D Council acquire grants and develop projects. Because of the excellent work history of our partnership and our ability to get things done, we were contacted by the state and asked to help restore Hyatt Creek. We received a grant for $500,000 to help fund this project. We formed the Hyatt Creek Restoration Group to act as an advisory council to guide our efforts. A requirement of the grant was matching funds from our partners. We have almost $900,000 to help our neighbors landowners in the watershed with projects that will improve their land and improve Hyatt Creek and its tributaries. Our goals for the Hyatt Creek Restoration Project are to: Protect children or pets who may play in the stream, Protect livestock who drink from the stream, and improve their health, growth, and calving rates, Improve water entering Richland Creek (a designated Trout stream), Reduce sediment in Hyatt Creek, and Remove Hyatt Creek from the 303(d) list of impaired waterways

3. Why is Hyatt Creek on the 303(d) list? return to top of page
The answer to that question is both simple and complex. The simple reason is that the bugs living in the stream are tolerant of pollution, according to studies done by the NC Division of Water Quality. But what does that mean? That's the complex answer. No one knows why only tolerant species are living in the stream but there are many potential possibilities, such as sediment coming from roads and eroding stream banks, bacteria, poor or lack of vegetation along streams and nutrients. To get Hyatt Creek off this list, we need to look at all the potential problems. We need the support of as many landowners as possible to construct projects that will remove as many potential sources of pollution as possible.
Sediment is the number one pollutant in Haywood County. There are many sources of sediment and what may be surprising is just how much is contributed from roads and the creation of new roads.

4. What are the effects of erosion and sedimentation: return to top of page
	1. It can result in the loss of your land, and if you are a farmer, this may result in reduced agricultural productivity
	2. It can degrade aquatic habitat, which can result in loss of fish and your favorite fishing hole.
3. If treatment facilities have to work harder to remove items we don't want in our drinking water, we end up with increased water treatment costs and water bills
	4. Filling of lakes/reservoirs when sediment drops out of the water column as it enters a lake.
A clean stream increases property value, both monetarily and aesthetically!

5. Who is eligible? return to top of page

Any landowner in the watershed (add button to definition), this includes churches, homeowners, businesses, and homeowners associations.

6. What do I do if I'm interested? return to top of page

Contact Duane Vanhook with the Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District as soon as possible. The Soil & Water Conservation District will visit your site, come up with site-specific improvements, and give you cost estimates. At this point, you are under no obligation to continue. If you do wish to construct the improvements, you will be asked to sign a maintenance agreement; that would be your only obligation other than your share of the work. A maintenance agreement basically requires a landowner to agree to maintain any best management practice for 10 years. One of the great features of this grant is that conservation easements are not required!

Don't wait, there are already several landowners signed up for this project. Because this is first-come, first-serve, getting on the list early will enable your problem to be solved quicker!

7. What kind of BMPs could be constructed on my property? return to top of page

The following are example BMPs:

Vegetating road ditches or adding rip-rap to reduce flow velocity and erosion.
Installing culverts to redirect stormwater away from areas prone to erosion.
Stabilizing stream banks.
Reshaping stream banks to reduce steepness.
Fencing to keep livestock from entering streams or trampling stream banks.
Alternative watering sources to provide livestock with a clean water source,
especially if livestock fencing is constructed.
Specific access points for livestock to access and cross streams.
Having a single access point is easier to manage than longer sections of stream.
Installing rock veins to move water to the center of the stream instead of along
the stream bank where it causes more erosion.
Installing terraces along the stream bank to reduce channelization and provide flood water with a place to go.
A channelized stream forces water to flow faster which results in greater erosion to the property of downstream landowners.
Planting trees and shrubs along streams to help hold stream banks together and prevent erosion.

8. Who are the organizations? return to top of page
The Haywood Waterways Association is a local non-profit group that was begun in 1999. We've partnered with the Soil & Water Conservation District and RC&D Council on several grants that have brought in over $4 million dollars to the county to help landowners implement projects that protect their land and the watershed. None of these projects have ever resulted in enforcement action! Eric Romaniszyn is the project manager; his contact information is included on the back cover. Haywood Waterways will be responsible for project oversight, education and outreach, and data collection.
Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District is a county agency that's been helping landowners for 53 years. They help landowners find grant money and complete projects that protect their land and the waterways of the county. They will help any landowner in the watershed that wants help with a project to conserve their land and improve stream condition. Duane Vanhook is the District contact for the Hyatt Creek Restoration Project.
Southwestern NC Resource Conservation & Development Council is a regional non-profit agency that has helped landowners in western North Carolina for 36 years. They work closely with the Soil & Water Conservation District and Haywood Waterways. They are the grant applicant and will handle grant funds and coordinate the reports required by the funding agencies.

9. How do you get more information? return to top of page
Contact:
Duane Vanhook Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District 589 Raccoon Road Suite 203 Waynesville, NC 28786 828-452-2741 x 3 duane.vanhook@nc.nacdnet.net
Eric Romaniszyn Haywood Waterways Association PO Box 389 Waynesville, NC 28786, 828-452-9077 romaniszyne@yahoo.com
Do you care about clean water? Are you interested in becoming a member of the Haywood Waterways Association? Click on our membership form to learn more