Pleasant Grove–The Restoration of a Lost Flood Plain
Slough, Pleasant Grove
One of my favorite conservation groups in Western North Carolina is Conserving Carolina. They have done so much work to restore floodplains and purchase land with wetlands and streams that feed into our rivers. Their work protects water quality in addition to providing areas to absorb excess floodwaters. If they had not helped remediate Pleasant Grove, Mud Creek, and Kings Bridge, the impact of Hurricane Helene in our area would have been even worse. In addition to helping protect farms and human interests, their projects provide important wilderness areas for wildlife in the region. Lastly, the work they do creates beautiful, natural areas for people to enjoy as well.
Pleasant Grove will one day have trails for the public to enjoy. Currently, it is still closed to the public until the trails are made. My husband and I visited this restoration last week and after the initial path down to this area, we had to walk in or along the slough and creek and through a lot of grasses and other vegetation that reached shoulder height in some places. There were still some invasive rose bushes with thorns, so getting around was difficult, but it was worth the effort and we were able to see how the vegetation is helpful to filter the water and prevent erosion.
The dried grasses and the golden rod going to seed were both so beautiful to witness. It was also amazing to see that all of this life sprung up in a little more than two years. The aim of the project is to bring back what the land looked like a century ago. Conserving Carolina bought the 70-acre property in 2017. It was part of a failed development, where new homes would have been built around a golf course. In the interim, landowners had built ditches to get rid of water and built berms to keep water in the river, but that ultimately prevented water from spilling over the land and providing a source of life for plants and creatures that inhabit in the area or might flock to it. Here is a link to an article about the project: https://conservingcarolina.org/pleasant-grove-restoration/.
I was told that they have beavers in the area now, and perhaps they were responsible for creating this dam from the slough to the creek that flows into the French Broad River. Greg Jennings’ environmental group was engaged to create gently sloping banks that were revegetated. Many invasive species were removed, while native trees and other vegetation were allowed to stay. The net result is that we encountered water throughout the floodplain. Along some of the beaver slides, we saw water trickling from the banks back into the creek. In the image on the right, you can see the water that permeates the soil in the floodplain reflecting the sun.
Above are two more images from this area. The one on the left was made just past the stick dam and the waterway feeds into the French Broad River. The one on the right shows a stream flowing into the slough. If we maintain more areas like this, the likelihood of loss of property and wildlife greatly diminishes.
We made our way through the underbrush to another small stream and a pond. Though many of the trees had fallen likely due to flooding rains, it was eerily beautiful. The dying matter of the trees is being absorbed into the water and landscape as it provides nutrients to the floodplain for new life.
Confluence of Willow Creek with the French Broad River
After we left the property, we came to a bridge crossing the French Broad River. I got out of the car right before the bridge and made this image of where the creek connects with the French Broad. The river was flowing peaceably and I felt grateful that the area purchased and remediated by Conserving Carolina and the environmental group they hired will help continue to slow the flow of water should more extreme rain events continue to impact this area. Compared with Cane Creek near my home, the river banks here still had lots of vegetation and standing trees. The work Conserving Carolina does it so important and allows us to keep enjoying the beautiful waterways in our area. Here is a link to their website: https://conservingcarolina.org. If you live in the area, I encourage you to donate to their organization or participate in one of their volunteer programs.