 Volunteers at the annual Big Sweep clean the Watauga River Saturday morning, collecting trash from Foscoe to Trashcan Falls. Photo by Tommy Penick
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by EMILY MELTON
Lifestyles Editor
From its headwaters at Grandfather Mountain through its winding bends at Valle Crucis and its rapids in East Tennessee, the 60-mile-long Watauga River attracts plenty of visitors.
Above the surface, it is beautiful and pristine—a prime location for campsites, kayaking adventures and a day spent lounging in the sun.
Underneath the surface, however, lies a dumping ground for beer cans, glass bottles, old t-shirts, abandoned tires, potato chip bags and dirt-encrusted candy wrappers.
“People like to
tube and go down the river and bring alcohol, and I’ve seen people just
throw their cans out of their tube and into the river,” North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service Agent Wendy M. Patoprsty said. “I’m
thinking, ‘You’re defeating your playground. If this is your playground
where you’re coming out to have fun, why are you trashing it?’”
Patoprsty
said Watauga River was once inhabited by Native Americans, and after
its surrounding areas became more populated and developed, it became
polluted with industrial, residential and commercial shopping center
run-off.
“Every
time it rains and the water is running all muddy, that’s when
everything is pouring in,” Patoprsty said. “It’s taking cigarette butts
and oil and gas and trash and whatever else is on the roads, into the
river."
Before a
landfill and recycling center was made available, many people used the
river as a dumpster, ridding themselves of couches, refrigerators and
washing and drying machines, not only affecting the general quality of
the river, but the animals and plant life that call it home, Patoprsty
said.
“There’s
so much life - all the bay flies and stoneflies and crawdads and
salamanders,” she said. “There’s just so much life in the river and you
don’t even realize it when you’re looking at the top.”
Since
1987, volunteers have helped with several waterway cleanups across
North Carolina, and every year, each volunteer records what they found
and where.
Though none were found in Watauga County, last year marked a record number of entangled animals found across the state.
“One year, down off the mountain, a group actually found a baby horse – a colt – tangled up in barbed wire,” Patoprsty said.
The
group of people who found the colt were volunteers for the Big Sweep, a
waterway cleanup that originated on the coast of North Carolina.
In more
recent years, cleanups were initiated in the mountain and piedmont
regions in hopes that if other bodies of water were regularly cleaned,
perhaps the coast would accumulate less pollution.
For the
past few years, Patoprsty has led Watauga County’s Big Sweep, largely
made up of volunteers from Appalachian State University and an event
she describes as a “Citizen’s Watch” of Watauga River.
On
Saturday morning, over 100 volunteers met at Valle Crucis Park to
tackle the clean-up of six different sections of the river, finding a
range of trash and recyclables and noting the river’s condition.
Kirtland “Seth” Flynn, sophomore undecided major, signed up when his friend started an environmental club and he wanted to help.
“My roommate pulled out a car bumper, there was an engine, lots of Styrofoam cups and bowls, even a chair,” Flynn said.
Zachary A. Vanderplate, sophomore physics major, found a steel bed frame, metal cans and a jacket, among other things.
“It really does show you how amazing it is how people don’t really care,” he said. “So many people don’t care at all.”
Laura D.
Mallard, geography instructor, has helped organize the Big Sweep with
husband Grant R. Seldomridge for the past three years.
The pair is responsible for providing canoes, kayaks and tubes for on-water transportation.
Each year, after the project is complete, Mallard believes both community members and volunteers benefit from the cleanup.
“A lot
of people from the university may not have known about this part of the
river,” Mallard said. “Some of them may never have even been to Valle
Crucis.”
Next week, Mallard will help Patoprsty properly dispose of any recyclables and trash found in the river.
“You’re
getting wet, you’re getting dirty and muddy and stinky and gross, but
you really kind of have an intimate experience with the river,”
Patoprsty said. “You’re out there helping it survive, helping it get
clean. It was clogged before, but clear and free-flowing afterward.”
Photo by Tommy Penick | The Appalachian
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