News

Tree Board sponsors walk to check out award-winning streambank restoration

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 24, 2023

A guided walk along Allen Branch to see a model restoration project is scheduled for at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 5. The walk was rescheduled after an earlier date was rained out.

Mike Huffman, stormwater manager for the city of Hendersonville, will explore and explain the methods used to restore this impacted stream to a natural, healthy, tree-lined environment. Property owners and those interested in environmental restoration are invited to attend the 90-minute walk.

“The restoration of Allen Branch from an impacted, channeled stream to a naturally winding bubbling branch is an example of how property owners can help improve water quality and flood management on their property and in the city,” Huffman said. “The Allen Branch project is one section of the City’s much larger, multi-area streambank restoration project, but it provides a great location to see how the work is done and what it looks like afterward.”

Hendersonville’s Multi-area Streambank Restoration project has restored 13 sections of urban streams along with associated vegetative buffers to promote stormwater quality and improve the quality of Mud Creek, an impaired stream that begins and ends within the boundaries of Henderson County. Approximately 11,000 linear feet of urban streambanks have been restored, 1,000 linear feet of sewer line threatened by streambank erosion rehabilitated and a stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) exhibit with educational features has been installed in Patton Park adjacent to a tributary of Mud Creek. The multi-area restoration project received honorable mention in the 2020 George F. Ames Pisces awards presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and has served as a model for other cities through an article in Stormwater magazine, a national publication for surface water and erosion control professionals.

Reservations must be made by Friday, March 3, by phoning Mac Brackett at 828-692-3026. The walk, which is sponsored by Hendersonville Tree Board, is open to the public at no charge.   This walk is rescheduled from a previously scheduled walk in February that was cancelled due to weather.