News

City snips ribbon on flood resilience project on Lower Mud Creek

Drone photo shows the 27-acre Lower Mud Creek Floodplain Restoration project, which creates additional storage for floodwater while improving water quality, aquatic habitat and recreational access. [CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE]

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 2, 2026

The city, county and state officials gathered on Friday to celebrate  the completion of a post-Helene improvement that transformed approximately 27 acres of city-owned floodplain along Mud Creek into restored wetlands, streams, floodplain habitat and public green space.

The project, called the Lower Mud Creek Floodplain Restoration and Flood Risk Reduction Project, reconnects Mud Creek and its tributaries to the floodplain, creating additional storage for floodwater while improving water quality, aquatic habitat and creekside recreational access in the 500 block of South Grove Street. 

“This project represents a different way of thinking about floodplain management and community resilience,” said Michael Huffman, the city stormwater & parks director. “Rather than trying to move water downstream as quickly as possible, we are giving it room to spread out in a place that is naturally intended to flood. At the same time, we’ve been able to restore habitat, improve water quality, and create a space the community can enjoy.” 

City Council members, community supporters, funding partners, and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson gathered for the ceremony and walking tour, officially opening the restored area for the community to enjoy. 

“We are cutting a ribbon on a project that will strengthen resilience against flooding and provide numerous other benefits,” Wilson said. “This project combines two of DEQ’s top priorities — helping Western North Carolina recover from Helene, and strengthening communities’ resilience to disasters throughout the state.”   

Mud Creek has a long history of flooding. Beginning in the 19th and early 20th centuries, portions of the creek were straightened, dredged, and bermed in an effort to drain the valley and reclaim land for agriculture and development. Over time, commercial development, floodplain filling and modifications to the stream system reduced natural flood storage and further disconnected the creek from its floodplain. 

The city acquired the two project properties in 2002 in part to preserve flood storage and reduce future development within this flood-prone area. More than two decades of watershed planning, environmental restoration efforts, grant development, engineering, and partnerships ultimately led to construction of the Lower Mud Creek project. 

Major project components include approximately 2,300 linear feet of tributary stream restoration, 1,500 linear feet of channel restoration on Mud Creek, 8½  acres of wetland restoration and 9.2 acres of riparian floodplain restoration and enhancement.

The improvements reconnect floodplain areas previously separated by berms and create wetlands that store and gradually release stormwater during smaller storms, while providing space for floodwater to spread across the broader floodplain during larger events. The project also includes water-control structures, native vegetation, pedestrian bridges, approximately 2,500 linear feet of paved greenway and approximately 1,600 linear feet of natural-surface trail. 

The restored floodplain is expected to provide approximately 20 acre-feet of additional flood storage and reduce flood risk for as many as 93 nearby properties with an assessed value of $60 million.

“The most important lesson from this project is that flood resilience does not have to be a single-purpose investment,” Huffman said. “When we plan around natural systems, a flood mitigation project can also be a water-quality project, a habitat project, a greenway project and a community investment.” 

The project was made possible through partnerships and funding from the North Carolina Division of Water Infrastructure, North Carolina Land and Water Fund, North Carolina Water Resources Development Grant Program, North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint and the city of Hendersonville. 

Wildlands Engineering served as the project engineer, and Shamrock Environmental served as the construction contractor. Additional project partners include Land of Sky Regional Council, EcoForesters, and other technical and regulatory partners.