Who Will Protect the Land Along the Yadkin River?

 Scenic Tuckertown Lake along the Yadkin River just below the High Rock Dam

Since DENR revoked Alcoa’s 401 Water Certification in early Dec. the ability of Alcoa to relicense their four dams appears more in question than ever. Alcoa’s own internal e-mails showed that there are still problems with a shortage of dissolved oxygen below their dams since their power producing turbines are fed water from deep intakes near the bottom of their dams. The lack of dissolved oxygen can stunt and damage the growth of fish and other aquatic species. (Alcoa states that they have been working to resolve this problem.)

Also more than ever Alcoa’s scenic shoreline, uplands and ridgeline properties of approximately 16,000 acres along thirty-eight miles of the Yadkin River are now in great jeopardy of eventually being developed. It appears unlikely that the State of NC will be able to acquire Alcoa’s dams at the super bargain price some have mentioned. If the four Alcoa dams are captured by the State of NC the state will be hard pressed to find sufficient funds. If sufficient funds are found in this recession environment for the four dams what will happen to Alcoa’s land. Will Morrow Mountain State Park not acquire the Falls Reservoir property around to the Hardaway Site? Will Alcoa eventually sell their land to the highest bidder? Will the scenic lands around Tuckertown Lake and the Falls Reservoir be significantly developed within twenty years?

Many pro-Alcoa folks around Badin have long argued that the blockage to Alcoa’s relicensing was partially fueled by regional power brokers who in the long term wanted access to Alcoa’s 16,000 acres for development. (Certainly there are many other reasons elaborated by the Yadkin Riverkeeper and others in Stanly County who want to make cheaper electricity available to attract new businesses to the region.)

Regardless of anyone’s good or bad intentions no major player appears to be engaged anymore about how to preserve and protect Alcoa’s approximately 16,000 acres. In my last post just below I describe the very important land conservation agreement worked out in 2007 by DENR, the Land Trust for Central NC and Alcoa. That agreement will disappear if NC captures Alcoa’s dams.

While the battle intensifies over Alcoa’s relicensing who is sufficiently concerned with the long term purchase and conservation of some of the most scenic, pristine and important land in NC? There is far more to this ongoing battle than just the dams and the water.