Improving Water Quality Throughout the Upstate

     For the last four years, Upstate Forever has led a broad alliance known as the Saluda-Reedy Watershed Consortium with the goal of promoting clean, healthy, and abundant water in the area that drains to Lake Greenwood. With a strong foundation of research and outreach, Upstate Forever is shifting its attention and focus to advocating for more effective programs and policies to improve water quality not only in the Saluda-Reedy watershed but throughout the entire region. This work is organized into four major project areas: Low Impact Development; Stormwater and Erosion Control; Floodplains, Greenways, and Lakeshores; and Pristine Streams and Wild Rivers.

Low Impact Development

By making the landscaping in this parking lot lower than the asphalt so it collects and absorbs runoff, this Asheville-area school is helping to reduce stormwater problems, while creating a beautiful landscaped island at the same time.

Low impact development–commonly known as LID–refers to practices that reduce the impact of both the development process and the developed landscape on the environment, particularly on rivers and streams. We have found that many developers are interested in using LID techniques, but are deterred by local regulations that make implementing LID difficult or impossible.

To address this obstacle, we conducted an audit in 2005 of all development standards governing the amount of pavement used in new developments in Pickens and Greenville Counties, from minimum residential street widths to the formulas that determine the required number of parking spaces in commercial developments. (The report is available at www.saludareedy.org/paveaudit.html.) We then spent several months meeting with community leaders to discuss the findings of the audit as well as assess the prospectsfor updating the relevant ordinances. Based on the feedback we received, we convened a roundtable in Greenville County that brought together local government officials and developers with the goal of building consensus on desired changes to pavement-related standards. The first roundtable meeting was held in November 2006, and the group has scheduled five meetings starting in January 2007 to discuss the issues raised in the audit. More information about the roundtable process can be found at www.saludareedy.org/outreach/lidstrategies.html.

We are engaged in a parallel process in Pickens County, where local government officials have expressed strong interest in the audit. We hope to initiate a roundtable in Pickens County next year with the support of the planning commission and council.

Stormwater and Erosion Control

Anyone who has ever driven around the Upstate in a rainstorm can quickly see that something is wrong with our approach to managing stormwater and preventing erosion. Roaring floods are becoming all too common, and rivers run red with mud nearly every time it rains. And yet, stormwater and erosion control infrastructure typically accounts for up to a quarter of a developer’s infrastructure expenditures. We ought to be getting more flood control and water quality protection for the money invested. Our goal in this project area is to strengthen, streamline, and modernize stormwater and erosion control programs in our region so that development and rivers can coexist.

	The wetlands and floodplain forest that occupy much of what was once Lake Conestee provide substantial water quality and flood protection benefi ts for downstream residents, absorbing many pollutants and dissipating the force of floodwaters.

With this goal in mind, we will soon release an in-depth assessment of the stormwater and erosion control programs in Greenville County and in the City of Greenville, as well as of the on-the-ground practices in each jurisdiction. We will work closely with developers, homebuilders, neighborhood associations and citizens in advocating for the adoption of many of the policy changes recommended in the assessment.

We are also working with a variety of partners to develop a network of demonstration sites of varying sizesand types. First, Anderson County has agreed to use innovative, wetlands-based strategies for managing stormwater at a planned 45-acre recreation complex on the Saluda River (see http://www.saludareedy.org/outreach/demonstration.html for a conceptual diagram of this approach). Second, we are working with Friends of the Reedy River to develop a stormwater management demonstration project on the Reedy River just downstream from Falls Park. Finally, we have developed a series of one-page interviews with leading developers and designers in our region about innovative projects that they have designed or built.

Floodplains, Greenways, and Lakeshores

The second house from the left shows the impacts of poor construction site management on Lake Greenwood. The lake-edge lawns of the other four houses make a significant contribution to water quality problems as well. photo credit: Ben Keys

Thirty years ago, no one in the Upstate wanted to spend any time near a river. Waterways were dumping grounds for everything from sewage to industrial waste–rivers were places to be avoided, not enjoyed. How times have changed! Today, rivers are popular with everyone from paddlers to homebuilders. The problem is, our rivers still show the scars of a century and a half of abuse and neglect, and are not as healthy–or as accessible–as we would like them to be.

To improve this situation, we are working with a wide range of partners to develop a shared vision for a network of trails and parks along the Reedy River corridor from Travelers Rest to Lake Conestee (see Reedy River Greenway: From Vision To Reality).

Second, we are building momentum for the passage of a Greenville County greenways ordinance and the development of a county greenways plan that together would result in the creation of a county-wide network of greenway parks and trails as an integral part of the development process.

Finally, we are helping a group of homeowners around Lake Greenwood organize a lake association and educate fellow lake residents about lake-friendly landscaping.

Pristine Streams and Wild Rivers

The Upstate is blessed with some of the cleanest and most beautiful rivers in the Southeast. From the Chattooga River along the state’s western border to the Middle Saluda River in Jones Gap State Park, many of our headwaters streams are clean enough to merit state “Outstanding Resource Waters” designation. Our goal in this area is to pull together a coalition of partner organizations–from fishing groups to kayak companies to hiking clubs–into a unified front for the protection of our best and wildest waters.