By Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Day 2: Overnight the nice little stream that we were hoping would raise enough to paddle upstream has now risen too much to consider paddling in its swollen state; especially with storms in the forecast. Our attention turned to Kerr Scott Reservoir. The locals on the way to the put-in are tough. A chicken was standing in the road challenging us to hit it. We did not. In a game of chicken with an actual chicken, we blinked. We’d start our day at Marley Ford, which sits at the “top of the lake”. Typically when sitting on the bank of Marley Ford, if you turn left, you are on Yadkin River. If you turn right you are on the flat waters of Kerr Scott. Today the swollen river pushed its boundary much further into the lake.
The Dock that we had difficulty getting up on the day before was now knee deep. We spoke to people on the lake who were looking for lost items washed off docks in the torrent the night before. The news about how much rain Mt Airy had received had not gotten to us yet. We were amazed at just our local weather. In the three hour paddle we only had a drizzle on a day that had promised nothing but lightning storms.
The Kerr Scott Dam and reservoir was built for flood control, and also provides recreation and an economic draw for the area. What’s not so obvious is the water rights. The top 30 feet of the lake (measured from “full pond” level) belong to Cities of Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem. Fortunately the Yadkin is more than able to supply for the needs of the communities along the river and, to my knowledge, these communities have never had to exercise this ownership. The natural flow of the river has satisfied the demands of the Yadkin Valley population. Securing the water meant the ability to dependably plan future growth for the region, not only in household drinking water, but businesses of many sizes. It’s up to community leaders and citizens to determine how much of any resource is used in any kind of enterprise; to balance the tradeoff between local jobs and income to the impact on drinking water and the environment.
Despite how effective Kerr Scott reservoir has been, it has its challenges. Waters excessively rich in nutrients feed aquatic plants that can cause issues for activities such as swimming and boating, which then reduces the economic draw to the lake, and siltation has started reducing lake depths. At some point the future that Winston-Salem and Wilkesboro secured with ownership of the top 30 feet of water may not be relevant if the lake is only 20 feet; or even 10 feet deep due to siltation. The water of Kerr Scott Reservoir is like a bank account that’s being reduced by service charges when we aren’t looking. The wealth of our water is being consumed from the bottom up. The answers to how to address those challenges are not easy. Smart people have noticed and are looking for solutions. But in the end it will take the actions of community leaders and citizens to protect what is likely the most significant resource of our region, water
Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper
I ended my last entry with our fingers crossed for enough rain to paddle upstream from Patterson to the Upper Yadkin Outfitters (UYO) today. Little did we know how much rain we were about to get. Other areas of the watershed in Surry and Yadkin counties experienced flooding, and I’m thinking about those impacted by the flooding on the Ararat River. In Happy Valley, we received a few inches. Those few inches across a couple of tributaries were enough to cause the river’s flow to go from 15 cfs to over 2000 cfs.
We decided to paddle from Marley Ford (our takeout yesterday) and paddle across Kerr Scott Lake. Yesterday, the water was a couple feet below the dock at Marley Ford. Today, the docks was 2 feet under water. The river turned a milky brown color and picked up speed this morning.
I was surprised by just how beautiful and wild this section of river felt. The banks were heavily wooded with a lush bright green post-rain forest, and the gray-ish white contrasting fog sat low over the river. As we moved away from the access and found our groove, I noticed how quiet the river was this morning except for the cicadas and frogs singing. It felt peaceful and still as we watched a blue heron and a juvenile bald eagle with a mottled belly fly overhead.
We got to Kerr Scott and hugged the bank, keeping a careful eye on the dark clouds forming behind us. We passed a few more of our Swim Guide sampling sites where the Friends of Kerr Scott Lake collect samples. They are a local organization advocating for the protection of the lake
The main concern for residents is the sedimentation of Kerr Scott and the resulting loss of volume. As we saw this morning, the river can transport a lot of sediment following a rain which settles out in the reservoir. With Winston-Salem and Wilkesboro owning the top 20 feet of the lake for emergency water use, the Friends of the Lake are concerned about the lake losing the remaining depth and impacting recreational use. They’ve asked the Army Corps to conduct a sediment study to better understand the impacts of sediment loading in the lake.
We finished our paddle across the lake just in time to miss the rain again and headed back to our camp at the UYO’s. We’ll be sad to leave this great campsite (with a bathroom and sink) on the river, but we’re eager to continue our journey down to Ronda tomorrow!
The foggy view from the Upper Yadkin Outfitters