Haywood Waterways Association

Haywood Waterways Association
2003 VWIN Summary

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Note: The following summary and conclusions is an excerpt from the
"Water Quality Trends of Haywood County: Year Seven Report".

IV. Summary and Conclusions

Chemical analysis of samples collected at Haywood County sites are intended to characterize the water quality relative to the parameters established by the Volunteer Water Information Network program. Concerned groups and individuals can use information from the program to help identify problems and evaluate solutions. Characterizing the water quality of the county is a complex task, and interpretation of the data can be difficult due to many factors. With continued long term monitoring, however, various trends become more evident. The VWIN program is currently monitoring over 200 sites in twelve Western North Carolina counties with 193 sites having at least one year of data to analyze. Summarized observations and trends for Haywood County stream sites are presented below.
The system of ranking streams utilized by the VWIN program allows grouping by parameters into categories. This system permits comparison of specific water quality problems such as stream sedimentation, urban runoff of chemicals and heavy metals, and nutrient loading. Table 3 is a summary of ranking of Haywood County sites by water quality issues and by watershed. With this information it is easier to focus on specific areas with related water quality problems.
Haywood County streams show very diverse water quality. This diversity is related to geography and land use patterns. A logical approach to analyzing the sites in Haywood County is to organize them by watershed and/or by regional land use patterns.

The Richland Creek and Jonathan Creek Watersheds

This group includes ten sites in the Richland Creek watershed and two in the Jonathan Creek watershed. From upstream to downstream in the Richland Creek watershed they are: Allen's Creek, Richland Creek in West Waynesville, two sites on Hyatt Creek, Plott Creek, Eaglenest Creek, Ratcliff Cove Branch, a tributary of Raccoon Creek, two sites on Raccoon Creek, and Richland Creek at Lake Junaluska. On Jonathan Creek one site is near Maggie Valley and the other is near the confluence with the Pigeon River.
One site, Jonathan Creek at Maggie Valley, rates excellent. This site maintains low median levels of all pollutants and has not exhibited any extreme levels of any pollutant in the past three years. Since there are plans for development in the upper part of this watershed, this baseline data will be useful in determining if there are significant changes in water quality as a result of that development.
Four sites in the watershed rate good. These include Allen's Creek, Raccoon Creek downstream, and the two sites on Richland Creek. This is a slight decline in rating for Allen's Creek from last year, no change for the upstream site on Richland Creek, an improvement for the site on Raccoon Creek downstream, and a great improvement for the site on Richland Creek at Lake Junaluska. This slightly higher rating for the site on Raccoon Creek is entirely from a higher rating for sediment. Median levels of turbidity and suspended sediment have declined at this site. This site has only been monitored 28 times, though, and median levels still fluctuate more than sites with greater numbers of samples. Special sediment monitoring carried out by Haywood Waterways Association with analysis by EQI show both upstream and downstream Raccoon Creek severely impacted by sediment during storm events.
The downstream site on Richland Creek shows great improvement overall largely because no extremes have been seen in recent years during monitoring. The overall pollutant levels at this site are closely related to sediment concentrations because all pollutant concentrations increase or decrease with sediment concentrations. Surface runoff is clearly the main source of pollution to this stream. Reducing sedimentation would improve water quality in general.
Three sites in this watershed rate average: Ratcliff Cove Branch, Raccoon Creek upstream, and Jonathan Creek downstream. This is a slight decline in rating for the Raccoon Creek site and an increase in rating for the Jonathan Creek site. Stream sedimentation is the main problem at all three of these sites, but median levels of several parameters exceed the regional average median, especially at the sites on Ratcliff Cove Branch and Raccoon Creek upstream. The elevated nitrate concentrations are probably an indication that livestock waste elimination may be a problem in this watershed (Ratcliff Cove Branch is a tributary of Raccoon Creek).
Two sites, Plott Creek and Eaglenest Creek, rate below average. Eaglenest Creek shows relatively low ratings in every category. This site has been more affected by extremes. Water quality standards for copper have been exceeded on two occasions in the past three years and zinc standards were exceeded once. Median zinc concentrations are also higher than average for the region. This may be an indication that the stream is receiving more urban runoff than most other sites. Ammonia-nitrogen concentrations also exceeded state water quality standards once in the past three years. It is normally very rare for mountain streams to exceed these limits. When they do the reason is usually related to animal waste or wastewater.
Plott Creek is of special concern because trend analysis shows almost every pollutant parameter increasing over time. This is probably related to the great increase in suspended sediment concentrations in the creek over the past couple of years because many pollutants are carried into streams attached to sediment. No other site in Haywood County shows as many pollutant parameters increasing over time as does Plott Creek.
The two sites on Hyatt Creek are two of the three in Haywood County that rate poor. These sites have consistently rated poor since their first year of monitoring. Median levels of turbidity, suspended sediment, copper, zinc, nitrate/nitrite-nitrogen, and ammonia-nitrogen are among the highest in the region. Clearly this stream will require a great deal of work to return its condition back to that of a more normal mountain stream. Fortunately, this stream is one of Haywood Waterways Association's target streams for water quality improvement.

The Fines Creek and Crabtree Creek Watersheds

Seven sites are monitored in these two watersheds in the northeastern part of the county. The region is very rural and much of the land is used as pasture. Much of the pastureland is located on steep slopes that have been cleared of forest for a very long time and have long since lost all topsoil. Erosion rates can be very high. Some of this land is being converted into rural residential, but construction on steep slopes can also result in high erosion rates. This region has been noted for serious stream sedimentation since the first year of monitoring.
Four sites are monitored in the Fines Creek watershed and all of them rate below average. Sediment and nutrients are the key issues for all of the sites in the Fines Creek watershed. As with many streams where the headwaters are steep and most of the trees have been removed, the most upstream site on Fines Creek shows the greatest suspended sediment concentrations and concentrations decrease at each site downstream. The energy of the flow does not allow sediment to settle in the steeper sections, but the sediment will settle when the stream enters more level ground. This downstream sediment is often picked up during storms when flow is faster or moved along the streambed and is eventually carried into the Pigeon River. All sites except the most downstream site on Fines Creek show median sediment concentrations greater than the regional average.
Median nitrate/nitrite-nitrogen are also much higher than average at all of the Fines Creek watershed sites except the most upstream one. High nitrate concentrations in rural areas generally signify livestock waste entering a stream. Trend analysis shows nitrate concentrations increasing as flow increases at the mid-stream and downstream sites on Fines Creek. Sediment concentrations also increase with flow and the nitrates and sediment are probably, at least to some degree, from the same sources. Median nitrate concentrations are especially elevated at the Cove Creek site. Median conductivity levels are also significantly higher than average at this site and the two may be related because animal waste can elevate both of these parameters. Conductivity can also be elevated if the soil runoff is largely clay and this may also be the case for Cove Creek. One positive sign for this watershed is that the downstream site on Fines Creek shows sediment and all three heavy metals concentrations decreasing over time. The decrease in heavy metals concentrations is probably linked to the decreasing sediment concentrations.
Of the sites in the Crabtree Creek watershed, the upstream site on Rush Fork rates below average, the downstream site on Rush Fork rates poor, and the site on Crabtree Creek rates average. These sites show many of the same problems as those in the Fines Creek watershed. Like Fines Creek, the upstream site on Rush Fork shows much greater median sediment concentrations than the downstream site and probably for the same reasons. Both sites, but particularly the downstream site on Rush Fork exhibit unusually elevated conductivity levels and nutrient concentrations. Livestock waste runoff is the probable source for these elevated pollutant levels. The downstream site on Rush Fork does show nitrate concentrations decreasing over time, however.

The Pigeon River

Five sites are monitored on the upper forks and main stem of the Pigeon River. There are two sites on the East Fork of the Pigeon River, one site on the West Fork, and two sites on the main stem of the Pigeon River, one just downstream from Canton and the other at Hepco Bridge.
All three sites on the upper forks rate excellent. None of these sites have shown any significant water quality problems in the past three years. The only concern for these streams is the very low alkalinity levels and sometimes rather low pH levels. Unpolluted mountain streams are naturally very low in alkalinity and this makes them more vulnerable to stream acidification from acid deposition. Trend analysis also shows pH levels decreasing over time at the sites on the East Fork. Although pH has not declined below 6.0 during any monitoring events in the past three years, it has been very close to that many times.
The two sites on the Pigeon River show very different water quality from the upstream sites on the forks. The site on the Pigeon River at Canton rates average and the site at Hepco Bridge rates below average. Although still not good, these are considerably higher ratings for these two sites than those from last year. For the site on the Pigeon River at Canton the improvement has been entirely in the improved water clarity and reduced sediment. The other parameters analyzed still show significant problems. Conductivity levels are still by far highest in the region, heavy metals concentrations are higher than the regional average, and phosphorus and ammonia-nitrogen also far exceed the regional averages. All or almost all of the problems are probably linked to wastewater treatment from the Canton paper mill and the city if Canton and possibly also to some degree for the heavy metals from urban runoff. Trend analysis shows copper, lead, orthophosphate, and ammonia-nitrogen concentrations increasing over time at the Canton site.
The Pigeon River at Hepco Bridge has traditionally ranked near the bottom of the ranking list for Western North Carolina streams, but this year its rating has improved somewhat largely also because of reduced stream sedimentation. Whether this trend will continue or whether it was merely because samples were not collected during significant rain events is uncertain. No statistically significant trend related to sediment is yet evident at either site on the Pigeon River. The Pigeon River at Hepco, however, also shows a statistically significantly trend with nutrient concentrations increasing over time. However, it also shows conductivity levels and copper and zinc concentrations decreasing over time.
It should be noted that this report rates streams based only on the parameters analyzed. In the case of the Pigeon River other factors not analyzed are also known to affect water quality. The color, for example, which is easily visible when analyzing samples, is clearly atypical for a mountain stream or river. It is important to consider some of these other factors when determining the actual overall water quality of the Pigeon River.
Although the rating for several sites improved in the past year, the majority of sites in Haywood County still rate below the overall regional average. Every watershed analyzed has sites that rate either below average or poor. With all of the streams in Haywood County originating in the county, the residents are uniquely in control of water quality in the county. This also means that they have the sole responsibility for ensuring that Haywood County stream water quality either improves to acceptable levels or remains at acceptable levels for future generations.


	Haywood County Index Ratings for 2003

	Table 3
site #	site name	sediment	metals	nutrients	overall	rating
	VWIN - WNC Regional Average	72	82	74	76
	Richland Creek and Jonathan Creek Watersheds
13	Allen's Creek (Richland Crk watershed)	88	81	92	87	good
21	Hyatt Creek upstream (Richland Crk watershed)	25	63	67	51	poor
22	Hyatt Creek downstream (Richland Crk watershed)	25	75	58	53	poor
9	Plott Creek (Richland Crk watershed)	38	88	83	69	below average
8	Eaglenest Creek (Richland Crk watershed)	63	75	67	68	below average
23	Ratcliff Cove Branch (Raccoon Crk watershed)	75	81	67	74	average
24	Raccoon Creek upstream (Richland Crk watershed)	75	88	67	76	average
25	Raccoon Creek downstream (Richland Crk wtrshed)	88	88	67	81	good
10	Richland Creek upstream	63	94	83	80	good
11	Richland Creek at Lake Junaluska	100	88	75	88	good
27	Jonathan Creek in Maggie Valley	100	100	92	97	excellent
12	Jonathan Creek downstream	63	88	83	78	average
	Average for this grouping	67	84	75	75
	percent sites below regional average	50%	42%	50%	42%


	Rural Northeastern Watersheds
19	Fines Creek upstream	38	94	75	69	below average
15	Fines Creek midstream	50	81	50	60	below average
20	Cove Creek (Fines Creek watershed)	38	81	67	62	below average
7	Fines Creek downstream	63	81	58	67	below average
14	Rush Fork upstream (Crabtree Crk watershed)	38	81	67	62	below average
6	Rush Fork downstream (Crabtree Crk watershed)	63	69	33	55	poor
26	Crabtree Creek	75	75	67	72	average
	Average for this grouping	52	80	60	64
	percent sites below regional average	86%	86%	86%	100%


	Pigeon River and Upper Forks
3	East Fork Pigeon River at Cruso	100	94	100	98	excellent
2	East Fork Pigeon River at Bethel	100	100	100	100	excellent
1	West Fork Pigeon River at Bethel	100	94	100	98	excellent
4	Pigeon River downstream from Canton	100	63	58	74	average
5	Pigeon River at Hepco Bridge	63	75	50	63	below average
	Average for this grouping	93	85	82	87
	percent sites below regional average	20%	40%	40%	40%


	Overall County Rating
	Average for All Sites	68	83	72	74
	percent sites below regional average	54%	54%	58%	58%

Excellent	Median and maximum pollutant levels in all parameters show little effect from human disturbances

Good	One or more parameters show minor or only occasional increases in pollutant levels from human disturbances

Average	Exhibits constant low levels of one or more pollutants or sudden significant but short-term increases

Below Ave	Median pollutant levels are abnormally high in one or more parameters or exhibit very high pollutant levels during certain weather conditions

Poor	Pollutant levels are consistently higher than average in several parameters and/or show extreme levels during certain weather conditions