Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 19, 1992 TAG: 9203190169
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
The New River. It's the second-oldest river in the world, behind the Nile. Some theories suggest the New was around long before the mountains were born.
Unlike most rivers, it flows north, from its headwaters in North Carolina, through Virginia and into West Virginia. There it meets the Gauley to form the Kanawha River.
Perhaps not so unusual about the New is its vulnerability to pollution and development.
There's a growing number of folks from all three states that want to do something about it. They're just not sure what.
On Saturday, they'll be meeting for the second New River Roundtable to discuss ways to protect the river.
The meeting will be at New River Community College in Dublin. It starts at 10 a.m. in Godbey Hall in Room 141, and is free and open to the public.
A representative of the National Park Service will advise the citizens on how to get technical assistance from the agency to study the river.
A stretch of the upper New, in North Carolina, is under state and federal scenic river protection, which helped citizens fight a proposed dam in the early 1980s.
The lower New, where it flows through the New River Gorge in West Virginia, is also under federal protection. Here, the New flows through steep terrain, unsuitable for development.
But the middle section, mostly in Southwest Virginia, is especially vulnerable to development, said Randi Lemmon, with the New River Valley Planning District Commission and one of the round table's organizers.
"It doesn't do West Virginia any good at all if we trash the river in Virginia."
Lemmon said the round table participants have steered away from the notion of designating privately owned stretches of the New for federal scenic river status.
Riparian landowners generally oppose the designation, fearing that it devalues their property and restricts their rights.
"There is no interest in getting federal designation - none, zero, zip, negative, minus," Lemmon said. A recent move to designate part of the Little River in the state's scenic river program failed in Montgomery, Floyd and Pulaski counties.
Lemmon said one section of the New that might be suitable for federal scenic status is between Narrows and the Bluestone Dam, where the Army Corps of Engineers has flow easements - the right to flood the land.
Other solutions the river advocates want to explore include private land trusts and conservation or scenic easements, Lemmon said.
Another round table participant is Jim McNeely of West Virginia, who doubles as a chief opponent of the proposed power line. Appalachian Power Co. wants to build a 756,000-volt power line from his state to north of Roanoke.
There's a spot on the New River in Summers County, W.Va., that's sacred to some folks, McNeely said. There's no development, no railroad, nothing but God's country.
To Apco, it's "nothing more than a power line route," he said.
"Apco didn't mean to but they absolutely brought about an explosion of interest. What the power line did, it's like a wake-up call."
The power line would cross the New at Bluestone Lake.
Although the New River Roundtable grew largely out of opposition to the power line, the group's goals have moved far beyond that project, McNeely said.
The first round table was held in West Virginia in December. About 30 people, representing government agencies, environmental groups and just plain folks, brainstormed about problems and opportunities for the New and the entire watershed.
They broke their discussions into what the river's got going for it, and against it, and wrote a report.
More people are taking an interest in the New's future, which is good, the report said. Also, the river offers recreation and tourism opportunities for local communities.
Major problems confronting the river include lack of coordinated planning and land use regulation in the river and its watershed and the Apco power line. Pollution from farms, runoff from housing developments and other non-point sources also are a major concern, according to the report.
How land is used and developed along the river can have a profound effect on water quality, and local governments can play a key role determining that land use, Lemmon said.
He is encouraged by the fact that Giles County recently adopted a zoning ordinance, the county's first, that allows homes to be built on five-acre lots or larger along certain segments of the river.
By comparison, he said, Montgomery County still allows 1/2-acre riverfront lots to be developed.
Saturday's meeting will likely last a few hours. Another, daylong round table is scheduled for April 25 in McGuffey Hall at Radford University.
by CNB