Proposal could enhance status for New River
By Scott Nicholson

nicholson@wataugademossscrat.com

The New River’s federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River could be expanded under a proposal introduced by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).

Burr presented the bill to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural resources Subcommittee on National Parks Tuesday. The bill would add another part of the New River as a Wild and Scenic River System, a move that would help raise awareness of the resource’s value and enhance preservation efforts.

George Santucci, director of the National Committee for the New River, made the trip to Washington, D.C. to address the subcommittee and support the bill. Monday, he said the bill isn’t a threat to landowners or property rights, but it would heighten awareness of the unique waterway that geologists rank as one of the oldest rivers in the world.

“The Wild and Scenic River designation is a nice recognition of what a treasured resource this is,” Santucci said. “Landowners aren’t upset because there are no provisions for the federal government to tell them what to do with their land.”

Santucci said the designation also carries some extra weight because it will draw more attention to the river, which could also threaten the very assets the national committee is trying to preserve.

“This is mostly raising awareness and the stature of the river and saying it’s worthy of protection,” he said. “It sets up a positive model for landowners and lets them know there is state and federal money available for preservation and easements.”

Santucci said the designation also provides guidelines for riparian buffers and expands the designation from over 12 miles in North Carolina to more than 26 miles, including parts of Virginia. The river meanders several times back and forth across the state border.

“There’s a lot of ongoing development along the New River,” Santucci said. “A designation like this is a double-edged sword. The more people hear about it, the more knowledge there is about the river and the more they might want to own property there.”

Grayson County (Va.) had considered a site on the river for a state prison, but eventually decided against it. Santucci said the designation would give the national committee another tool for states in setting policies for land along the river.

He also said the flood plain ordinance recently adopted by Ashe County is a great protective measure, even though a number of subdivisions had already been approved under the old regulations. “That was a great step taken by the county, to say the river’s really worth protecting,” he said.

Development continues to be the primary threat to the river, as sediment and run-off stress the water and diminish its aquatic life and quality. Santucci said there are no large source-point polluters, and said agricultural impacts were nowhere near as dramatic as those caused dramatic as the second-home construction boom.

“Counties feel like they have to have positive growth, but you can do it in a way that protects the river,” Santucci said.

The discussion of a joint, large-scale water intake system has also drawn the attention of the national committee. Watauga and Ashe counties, several municipalities and Appalachian State University have discussed mutual water issues, including a possible combined or interconnected system. “That’s something we monitor,” Santucci said. “I don’t think Ashe and Watauga are going to continue working together, but Boone desperately wants to take water. We’re concerned about the amount they’re looking to take and it (the intake source) would probably have to be in Todd. State regulations will control how much they take out, so hopefully it won’t be detrimental to the river.”

The national committee, a nonprofit organization formed in the 1970s to fight dams and other development along the river, fought the Virginia state prison, and it was that effort that caught Burr’s attention. As proposed, the bill would still defer to all state and local planning, zoning or buffer laws.

In 1975, the North Carolina legislature unanimously passed a bill to declare the river a State Natural and Scenic River. A year later, Pres. Gerald Ford signed legislation to include the New River as part of the National Wild and Scenic River system. In 1997, Pres. Bill Clinton designated it an American Heritage River.