Upper North Toe River Watershed Action Plan Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties North Carolina Effective January 1, 2015 Prepared for the Blue Ridge Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. 26 Crimson Laurel Circle, Suite 2 Bakersville, NC 28705 Prepared by Equinox Environmental Consultation & Design, Inc. 37 Haywood Street Asheville, NC 28801 December 2014 This page intentionally left blank. Table of Contents Page Key to Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................... v Executive Summary ...................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................... xvii North Carolina 9-Element Plan Checklist .......................................................... xviii 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and History ......................................................................... 1 1.2 Why the Upper North Toe River is Impaired? ................................................ 4 1.3 Synopsis of Cause and Source of the Primary Stressor – Sediment ....................... 5 1.3.1 Other Stressors ............................................................................. 5 1.4 Why Care? ......................................................................................... 6 1.4.1 Environmental Factors ..................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Economic Factors ........................................................................... 6 1.4.3 Social Factors ............................................................................... 7 1.5 Watershed Partners and the Planning Process .............................................. 8 2. Watershed Characterization ...................................................................... 13 2.1 Geographic Location and Attributes ......................................................... 13 2.2 Population and Land Use Characteristics ................................................... 15 2.2.1 Population .................................................................................. 15 2.2.2 General Land Use Characteristics ....................................................... 15 2.2.3 Industrial Land Uses....................................................................... 17 2.3 Natural Resource Characteristics ............................................................. 20 2.4 Existing Plans and Programs................................................................... 22 2.4.1 Town ........................................................................................ 22 2.4.2 County ...................................................................................... 23 2.4.3 State ........................................................................................ 25 2.5 Organizations in the Watershed .............................................................. 26 3. Watershed Conditions .............................................................................. 29 3.1 What We Know from Existing Data ........................................................... 29 3.1.1 Water Quality Conditions ................................................................ 29 3.1.2 Biological Conditions ...................................................................... 35 3.2 What We’ve Learned about Current Watershed Conditions and Sediment Sources ............................................................................. 41 3.2.1 Turbidity Assessments .................................................................... 43 3.2.2 Windshield Surveys ........................................................................ 46 3.2.3 Streamwalks ............................................................................... 52 3.2.4 Stormwater ................................................................................. 57 3.2.5 Nonnative Invasive Plants ................................................................ 61 3.2.6 Unwooded Riparian Areas ................................................................ 64 3.2.7 Unpaved Roads ............................................................................ 67 3.2.8 Horticultural Operations ................................................................. 68 3.3 Synopsis of What We Know .................................................................... 69 Upper North Toe River Watershed Action Plan i December 2014 Blue Ridge RC&D Council, Inc. 4. Management Measures for Reducing Turbidity and Sedimentation ....................... 71 4.1 Watershed Management Goals ................................................................ 71 4.2 Stream Channel and Riparian Area Enhancement .......................................... 71 4.2.1 Stream Channel Restoration and Enhancement ....................................... 72 4.2.2 Riparian Area Vegetation Enhancement ............................................... 79 4.2.3 Channel Realignment ..................................................................... 80 4.3 Upland Management Practices ................................................................ 81 4.4 Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs; formerly BMPs) ..................................... 84 4.4.1 Simple Stormwater Control Measures .................................................. 85 4.4.2 Engineered Stormwater Control Measures ............................................. 87 4.4.3 Green Infrastructure Alternatives ...................................................... 95 4.4.4 Stormwater Control Measure Assessment .............................................. 97 4.4.5 Site Exhibits ...............................................................................100 4.5 Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) ..........................................103 4.6 Pollutant Load Reduction Potential .........................................................104 4.6.1 Streambank Erosion ......................................................................104 4.6.2 Upland Disturbances .....................................................................106 4.6.3 Stormwater Control Measures ..........................................................106 4.7 Government Practices and Programs .......................................................110 4.8 Land Conservation .............................................................................110 4.9 Education and Outreach Plan ................................................................111 4.9.1 Partners ....................................................................................111 4.9.2 Goals and Objectives ....................................................................113 4.10 Additional Watershed Assessments..........................................................121 4.10.1 Supplemental Sediment Source Assessments .........................................121 4.10.2 Other Water Quality Assessments ......................................................122 4.11 Watershed Monitoring .........................................................................123 4.11.1 Turbidity and Water Chemistry Monitoring ...........................................123 4.11.2 Ecological Monitoring ....................................................................123 4.11.3 Stewardship Monitoring .................................................................124 4.12 Watershed Coordinator - Importance and Need ...........................................126 5. Implementation Strategy ........................................................................ 127 5.1 Overview ........................................................................................127 5.2 Accomplishments to Date ....................................................................127 5.2.1 Education and Outreach Plan ...........................................................127 5.2.2 Recently Completed Projects and Projects in Progress .............................129 5.2.3 Agricultural BMPs Projects ..............................................................130 5.3 Action Plan .....................................................................................130 5.4 Implementation Schedule and Accomplishments Tracking ..............................141 6. References ......................................................................................... 147 7. Appendices ......................................................................................... 153 Upper North Toe River Watershed Action Plan ii December 2014 Blue Ridge RC&D Council, Inc. List of Figures Page Figure 1.1 North Toe River Project Area ................................................................ 3 Figure 2.1 Upper North Toe River Watershed Characteristics ...................................... 14 Figure 2.2 Installed Agricultural Cost Share Projects, 2004-2014 .................................. 24 Figure 3.1 Existing Sample Site Locations ............................................................. 31 Figure 3.2 Study Assessment Sites and Targeted Subwatersheds ................................... 42 Figure 3.3 Windshield Survey Data Collection Site Locations ....................................... 49 Figure 3.4 Catchment Imperviousness Classification ................................................. 58 Figure 3.5 Potential Stormwater Control Measure Locations ......................................