Our Watershed
The Watauga High School campus drains to Hardin Creek, a tributary to the South Fork New River.
More than a quarter of the land that drains to Hardin Creek—the Hardin Creek watershed—is covered with pavement and other impervious surfaces that prevent water from infiltrating into the ground. Instead, rain runs off into the stormwater system, which delivers untreated runoff rapidly to the creek. Urban runoff carries with it pollutants like motor oil and grease, heat, and road salt. As a result, Hardin Creek shows symptoms of “urban stream syndrome,” including flashy flows when it rains, accelerated erosion of streambanks and streambed, water quality concerns, and poor quality habitat that supports only a small number of tolerant aquatic organisms. Watershed management—particularly reducing runoff—can help reduce the negative effects of urbanization on streams in our communities. |
The WHS rain garden drains about 3800 sqft of parking lot. Though this is only a small portion of urban runoff that flows to the nearby Hardin Creek, we believe this garden has great educational value as a demonstration project. Located in front of the school by the ticket office for the athletic fields, the rain garden will be visible to WHS students and their families as well as visitors to the campus.
We hope that it will inspire lots of people in our community to think differently about how we manage runoff, so that we can protect the values of our waterways that we all care about such as clean drinking water, healthy trout populations, and high quality recreational opportunities.
We hope that it will inspire lots of people in our community to think differently about how we manage runoff, so that we can protect the values of our waterways that we all care about such as clean drinking water, healthy trout populations, and high quality recreational opportunities.
Check out these watershed resources:
- New River Conservancy--New River Watershed
- Blue Ridge Conservancy--Watauga River Watershed
- EPA Healthy Watersheds--Protecting Aquatic Systems through Landscape Approaches