The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-06-06
THE PROPOSED FLOODING OF
HENDERSON COUNTY


The Tennessee valley development, one
of the pet schemes of President Roosevelt,
includes in it's program the construction OF
dams on the French Broad river, and as
has been previously announced on what is
said to be reliable authority, one of these
dams will be constructed on the French
Broad few miles above the mouth OF the
SwannanOa. The results of this so-called
development, if it is completed, are point
ed out by Judge Frank Carter of Ashe-
Vile, in an article entitled ''The Asheville
Dam-What 1t Ought Not to Be-" We
quote from this article the following para
graphs:
1.-The press dispatches carry the story, apparent
" on high authority that the project for the COM
prehensive development of the Tennessee River
BASIN recently authorized by congress, includes, as
one of its major items, dam the French Broad
river. about seven miles upstream from the mouth
of the Swannanoa-a point evidently little be-
low the Sandy Bottom.
'"This dam is to be of sufficient height to back
the water in the main stream we'll above Brevard
in Cane Creek to a point several miles above
Fletcher: in Mud Greek to the foot of the Blue
Ridge, and in Mills River to the foothills of the
Pisgah Range. The power pool artificial lake
thus created would have a superficial area of rs
square mes-49,92O acres,-with an average
depth slightly in excess of 20 feet and would
have storage capacity of one million acre-feet-
second only to the capacity of the Cove Greek
(Clineh river) reservoir, which is 100000 acre
feet.
"The Asheville dam (so-called) would flood at
least four-6fths of the bottom land in Henderson
county and more than half of such land in Tran
svIvania county 1t would submerge at least DO
miles of hard-surface highway and considerably
more than 500 miles of secondary roads. Likewise
it would submerge every bridge the French
Broad river between Carrier Bridge and Brevard
all the bridges on Cane Creek below Fairview; al
the bridges on Mud Greek, and an even greater
number of bridges on smaller streams-almost GER
tainly more than 80 bridges in all. Hendersonville
would be left on a narrow peninsula-at least 81
per cent surrounded by water, and a considerable
section of it's improved residential area would be
under water.
"The expense of building bridges viaducts anc
causeways to give Hendersonville its normal con
nections north, south and east would be enormous
if not utterly prohibtive. Fletcher would be al
most equally isolated from the territory lying tc
the east, south and west, and the problem of re
storing it's connections would be almost difficult
and expensive as those of Hendersonville. The ex
listing lines of communication between AshevillC
and the upper French Broad Valley would be al
most entirely destroyed and literally dozens Of
the smaller communities in the valleys of the sew
eral streams affected would have their communi
cations disrupted and incommoded to a very hurt
full degree.
at would not be feasible to substitute wate
TRANSPORTATION for the road facilities thus destroy
ed for the alEsufficient reason that the water
stored primarily for use in regulating the flow o.
the Tennessee river would be drawn off re
uuired for such use so that, in any season o.
drought, upwards of 10000 acres of mucky lake
bottom might be uncovered thus rendering tina
large area equally unfit for the purposes of trans
portation both by land and water vehicles.
'If in these times of hectic gloom Uncle San
takes any account of costs, it might well give hin
pause to consider the tens of withdrawing
few years ago I would have said scores of mil
hons-of damages direct and consequential, tina
necessarily would result from the seasonably fuc
tuating water-Storage of such extent at the yer!
heart of this Eden of the Southern Appalachians.
"But it is neither the prodigious cost to the
Federal government nor the devastating injuries
to the local governments, nor the shocking dsrup
tions of long-settled community ties which, sepa
rately or together, argue most strongly agans
such unnatural use of this particular area-unnat
ural not only but as verify believe, wholly un
precedented in respect of the unavoidable effect o.
such immense water storage upon an equally de
veloped and equally important area.
"The GROWING injury which exceeds the posi-