Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:

Question: Now that many of us have newfound expertise regarding Asheville’s water supply, I’d like to pivot slightly and ask: What prevents the watersheds owned by the city of Asheville from being opened to limited recreation? Other city-owned watersheds and reservoirs, e.g. Canton and Greensboro, are available for limited use, so our closure seems not to be a requirement foisted by Raleigh. And the risk of contamination from day use, non-motorized recreation can’t be much higher than what’s already emitted by existing wildlife.

My answer: Well, we humans do have a history of treading ever so lightly on our recreational lands. It’s like you can’t even tell we were there, other than the bike tracks, portable toilets, throngs of tourists approaching wildlife with cell phone cameras, discarded dog poop bags, and a few hundred mountain bike ruts.

Real answer: I suspect it would take less than a week for some idiot to accidentally, or intentionally, start a fire in the watershed, and that is one of the considerations. More about that in a second.

Asheville Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler put the kibosh on this one pretty quickly. He said both the North Fork and Bee Tree treatment plants, in Black Mountain and Swannanoa, respectively, are both designated as “Water Supply-I.”

“That designation carries a lengthy list of regulations, but it essentially prohibits any kind of commercial development to protect the quality of the water flowing into our reservoirs,” Chandler said. “Asheville is unique in that the city owns the actual watersheds, so we’re able to implement a few regulations ourselves.”

Chandler said the reader is “probably correct” in that light use for recreation would not have any more impact than wildlife does.

“Our primary concern lies with fire risk,” Chandler said. “In its current condition, the amount of fuel on the forest floor from downed timber and other dead vegetation would allow even a small fire to spread quickly.”

A fire in the watershed would increase sediment runoff, could alter soil properties “due to things like ash clogging soil pores, and generally increase flood risk and decrease erosion control,” Chandler said. “That would obviously have an adverse effect on water quality.”

He cited the 2020 Cameron Peak fire in Colorado, which severely damaged the watershed.

That fire had a 32-mile long perimeter, burned more than 41,700 acres of wilderness and 32 miles of wild and scenic river corridor, and affected three watersheds. It also destroyed 492 structures.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality notes that the state has five water supply classifications — Water Supply-I to Water Supply-V — “that are defined according to the land use characteristics of the watershed.”

“The Water Supply-I classification carries the greatest protection for water supplies,” DEQ states. “No development is allowed in these watersheds. Generally, WS-I lands arepublicly owned.”

By contrast, Water Supply-V watersheds “have the least amount of protection and do not require development restrictions. These are either former water supply sources or sources used by Industry.”

Question: We have been hiking at Richmond Hill Park for years. After Helene, someone or some group came out and cleared trees along all the paths so you could continue to hike. Now the park has been closed and the entrance is blocked. We are wondering what the issues are,  and what is the outlook for reopening? Also, we’re wondering whether this is happening at other parks that are not along the river and really devastated.

My answer: I’d like to find this “someone or some group” to help with branch and debris cleanup in my yard. Please hook me up!

Real answer: City of Asheville spokesperson Kim Miller directed me to the city’s Parks & Recreation webpage, which in part states that if a park is listed as being closed, “PLEASE stay away.”

“Though some spaces look safe, there may be broken equipment, sinkholes, or other ‘unseen’ dangers following unprecedented damage from storms in September,” Parks & Rec states. “Disaster relief agencies continue to assess damage that may be eligible for grants and other recovery resources; unauthorized ‘help’ may make some parks ineligible for this vital funding.”

The city asks if you’re interested in volunteering to send an email to parks@ashevillenc.gov.

As of Monday, the city listed these parks as still closed: Azalea (including the John B. Lewis Soccer Complex), Carrier, French Broad River, Jean Webb (including Craven Street Bridge Boating Access Area), Recreation, Richmond Hill, Riverside Cemetery and the Wilma Dykeman Greenway.

The city notes that the cemetery is open to those attending services.

In addition, “Memorial Stadium and Mountainside Park are closed for community improvement projects unrelated to storm damage and should reopen soon,” the city states.

The city also noted that riverfront parks were the hardest hit, “with massive destruction left by this unprecedented event and are closed indefinitely.”

“While these spaces look devastated, they also represent the prospect of reimagining and rebuilding smarter, stronger, and in ways that make our city more resilient in the face of natural disasters such as floods,” the webpage states. 

As far as organizing volunteer teams to help with the cleanup, the city notes that this gets more complicated than you might think, in part because, “disposal of storm debris is subject to strict federal and state regulations.”

Question: I was recently told that the Buncombe County commissioners are proposing to revise the library hours at certain facilities. Is this true? I really hope not, as I can say I know the manager of one of the branches being proposed for shortened hours, and they go in when the library is closed to process returns and holds because it is so busy when they reopen for the week.

My answer: I stopped working off the clock a while back, just as a matter of principle. OK, it was about 30 years ago. Seriously, you just shouldn’t do that.

Real answer: Unfortunately, some cuts in hours are on the horizon for the library system. 

Buncombe County spokesperson Lillian Govus told me via email that the county has an anticipated revenue shortfall that could reach $20 million this fiscal year, which runs through June 30. As with most bad news these days, the shortfall comes from impacts of Tropical Storm Helene, Govus said.

The county already has implemented a hiring freeze on all positions, with the exception of those in 911 services.

“We are reopening Swannanoa Library for the first time since the storm on Jan. 25, which is great news,” Govus said. “However, we also have 14 vacancies in our libraries, so in order to keep all of our branches open, we’ve worked with library staff to develop a schedule that meets library demand but unfortunately, does reduce some hours in some locations.”

For full schedules of your library, go to the county’s news page on the issue.

“This is not a move that is intended to be permanent, and we’ll continue monitoring our regular recurring revenue projections,” Govus said, noting that the Board of Commissioners will hold a full-day budget meeting Thursday, available at www.facebook.com/buncombegov.

Govus noted that the decision is “a county operational adjustment, not anything that commissioners will vote on.”

Additionally, Library Services Director Jason Hyatt will join the community briefing at 11 a.m. Wednesday to share more information on this, Govus said.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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