French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1919-04-17
Continued from Page One)
bottom land is used for pasture and

Considerably hard ditching and
Strengthening of the Creeks has been
done at one time or another, and no
loops or bad bends occur. Trees and
logs nave fallen into the Streams at
places which help to retard the flow.
Some rock may be encountered i'll
places also.
Mind Creek has a width of about IS
feet at the Flat Rock road increasing
to $3.50 feet at the lower end, with
banks five to six feet deep at these
places. but considerably shalloWer at
points between, Bat Fork has an ave-
rage width of II feet and depth OF .
feet. increasing 10 a width Of % feet
and shallow depth below the junction
of King Creek. King and Devils
Fork Greeks average from eight to
ten feet wide and about four feet deep
The beds Of the Creeks have been
elevated by the deposition Of sand and
silt until, in places, they are now very
little lower than the bottom land BACK
from the streams, and successful farm
drainage is impossible. OVeTfoWs oc-
cur frequently and the CONSTRUCTED
and shallow channels prevent It's
rapid removal. The banks OF the
creeks have been built up by deposits
and the bottom land slopes off grad
ually to the foothills, along which
the land is seepy and full OF springs.
Although Mud Creek is located in
the mountain section Of the State,
where most OF the streams are tor
rental in character, yet it has 2
small fall as compared to streams il
the Piedmont section of the Stale.
Also the watershed is not as billy eN-
cept at the headwaters Of the streams.
According to Mr.. Justices survey,
Mud Greek has a total fall of 21.4I
feet in a distance Of 5 IL miles be-
+. cen the Flat Rock road and JOHN
SOl e DElUSS, III ohSACSS ~ "'ONo
SO feet to the mile. Bat Fork
Creek has a fall Of Is feet in 8 IL
miles, and Devils Fork 10 feet in z
miles, thus averaging 4.3 and 90 feet
to the mile, respectively. The ether
creeks have falls slightly large" than
this. The Mud Creek bottom lands
extend to the French Broad River I
merge with the River bottom II
The bottom lands nearer the lOwe-
ED are probably damaged more by
back water from the French Broad
River than by the overflow Of the
creek, and there is a question as 10
how much benefit they would derive
by the dredging of the creek. 1t is
estimated that a distance Of a mile or
two at the lower end of the district
is affected by back water.
Located about 8 IA miles below the
outlet of Mud Creek Oh the French
Broad River, in Buncombe County,
are what is known as the BUCK
Shoals (called locally Big Buck
sSboals). The French. Broad River be-
. tween Brevard, N. c., and BUCK
Shoals, a distance of about thirty
miles, is a rather placid stream with
an average fall Of about 1 IL feet TO
the mile, Beginning at the head OF
Buck Shoals, however, a succession q
shoals is encountered that. eXtenQs
practically. to Asheville, n. C. Accord
ms to a survey by the War Depart
ment Engineers in 1878, the French
BROAD River between the outlet OF
Mud Creek and the head ct BUCK
Shoals. has a fall Of 4.15 feet. Buck
Shoals $3.50 feet long, has a total drop
nj 2.7S feet. Thus the total fail be-
tween the mouth of Mud Greek and the
foot of Buck Shoals is SOS feet. 1t is
the belief of some of the residents
along Mud Creek, that this creek cam
not be successfully drained until TIE
river is lowered by the removal OF
Ruck Shoals. The effects OF these
sboo1e and hack water from the river
are discussed later on in this report.
Rainfall and Run-Gm
In order to design a successful sys-
tenn of drainage for All area OF n
account must be taken of the amount
Of water which must be removed
h tho ~DroDOsed drainage CHAN
nels. This surplus water which pass
es off through the drainage chaineiS
is called ~run-Of.
The chief factors Affecting the '"'e
ond total amount of run-oH are:
rainfall, topography; h Slze' Si"po
and location of the watersheds anu
character and culture OF the ,aho'
Rainfall is the most IL poTtant ere