Watershed Concerns

SAVE OUR SALUDA

Action Alert & Concerns

The Saluda watershed is classified as an EPA priority watershed due to the impacts from increased development that can degrade the water quality and destroy the ecosystems of our rivers. The #1 pollutant in watersheds today is sedimentation caused by uncontrolled stormwater runoff from denuded land and degradation of the natural riparian buffers that protect the rivers and streams. SOS opposes any development practices that do not protect the natural river corridor buffer consisting of the large native tree canopy and a native understory growth.
SOS has voiced oppostion to one water quality(401) and construction in navigable waters(404) permits issued bySouth Carolina DHEC for the following reasons:
1) Permit 2007-1312-6J -May15,2008, Cliffs Communities Inc. permit to construct a golf course along both sides of the North Saluda River- a) The Mountain Park project encompasses 5,000 acres. A comprehensive analysis of feasible alternative sites for the golf course was not completed. A golf course along both banks of the North Saluda river will cause huge irreversible impacts to the water quality due to sediment from construction and chemical toxins from fertilizers and herbicides from the golf course. These impacts ,along with the loss of much of the native riparian buffer that provides shade and filtration for the river's water , will destroy the natural habitat for many plant, animal and aquatic species. b)This 2 and 1/2 mile section of the North Saluda River is vital habitat for trout and other fish species. The permit plan will allow 16 bridges across these public waters .Restricted access to these 2 and 1/2 miles of river will eliminate access to 1% of South Carolina's trout waters while the many bridges and 13 playovers will impede and make navigation of this public waterway extremely unsafe for paddlers and fishermen .

SOS has also voiced opposition to the SC DHEC permit approval for ND permit No. ND 0086711-Treated Wastewater Land Application Permit for the Cliffs at Mountain Park for the following reasons:
a) Failure to conduct a thorough cumulative impacts analysis for this development.The impacts of this land application project should have been considered as part of the comprehensive review required by DHEC Regs. 19-450 and 61-101.b) The permit appears to allow a change in the permit discharge limits above what was originally stated in the public notice c)The approved permit specifies a 30 acre site but the defined area, design and layout have not been submitted to DHEC or made available to the public.
c) lack of the following requirements in the conditions for the permit 1) failure to require groundwater monitoring 2) lack of adequate analysis of the impacts of the discharge into tributaries of the North Saluda River and existing vegetation.

The two approved SC DHEC permits listed above have been appealed by a conservation collaboration consisting of the following groups: Save Our Saluda, Sierra Club, South Carolina Native Plant Society,South Carolina Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and Upstate Forever. The concerns listed are only a few of the many concerns that were stated in the appeals documents that were submitted to SC DHEC.