Yadkin Riverkeeper (YRK) with support from the Wallace and Graham Gives Foundation and the Waterkeeper Alliance's Pure Farms, Pure Water campaign, will be providing sustainably raised BBQ pork and chicken from Crossings Farm in Lexington to Lutheran Services Carolinas. Lutheran Services Carolinas will distribute the BBQ to frontline caregivers serving the elderly and homebound Covid-19 patients on December 12.

It was not a good morning…as the day of the trip dawned. Don’t get me wrong…the weather was absolutely perfect and water levels were spot on, but a week of being on call for work, complete with middle of the night crisis calls had left me sleep deprived and delirious. A night camping at Warrior Creek, before putting in at Tailwater on Friday morning would normally have been a welcome respite…but there was a bear in the campground, grunting, bellowing, and rummaging on into the night, and it was cold. So morning arrived at 4am, despite efforts to extend the slumber…I packed up camp, and then simultaneously consoled myself and celebrated turning off the work phone by indulging in a wonderful, greasy two egg and bacon breakfast at 6am, along with a few other solitary souls who silently occupied our respective booths at the Coffee House Diner in Wilkesboro. Unable to ignore the unseasonable chill and with plans to hammock camp for the next two nights, I stopped at Walmart after breakfast to improve the sleeping situation. Doors didn’t open until 7, so a quick parking lot nap was had…a sounding alarm, extra foam pad, and $15 puffy vest later, it was time to put the boat into the river. On this blurry morning however, I forgot the gummi bear.

Yadkin Riverkeeper is excited to announce the release of the “Roadmap to a Cleaner Yadkin,” which will lay the foundation for prioritizing our efforts to improve water quality in High Rock Lake and the upper Yadkin River. Funded by a the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Wells Fargo Resilient Communities program, the report is the culmination of several years of work with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC) to develop and apply a GIS-based assessment tool to project nutrient and sediment runoff in the Yadkin River watershed above High Rock Lake (HRL).

You’re all packed up and ready to go! The gear is in the back seat and the boats are tied down, ready to float down the Yadkin for a fun day of paddling or fishing. Unfortunately, it started raining two days ago, and though it has stopped now, you’re wondering what the river will be like – is it safe to paddle? That question depends a lot on your skill level, but there is a solid source to check out to help make that decision before you leave the house: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Stream gauges.

The upcoming 2020-22 Triennial Review of North Carolina’s water quality standards conducted by the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the NC Environmental Management Commission (EMC) will be a major focus for Yadkin Riverkeeper in the last half of 2020 and most likely well in to 2021. The Triennial Review is the state regulatory agency’s periodic assessment of existing and proposed water quality standards, including many of YRK’s priorities.

We are halfway through a very unusual year, and I wanted to provide Yadkin Riverkeeper members with an update of our work so far. Even with the lockdown, the restrictions, and other adjustments we have had to make for Covid 19, Yadkin Riverkeeper has still been at work throughout the watershed.

While there is no denying the reality of progress when it comes to addressing injustice, as recent events have shown, reality also lets us find fault in the systems even where progress is being made. Such is the case with the state of North Carolina’s efforts to respond to environmental justice groups that have formally complained on behalf of residents who are being unjustly exposed to health and property risk directly related to large scale hog production. The most recent being concerns with a report published by the NC Department of Environmental Quality that assesses the state’s efforts to address a range of air and water quality concerns related to large scale animal operations.

Yadkin Riverkeeper stands ready to support communities of color in mutual efforts to eliminate systemic, institutional racism in our community and country. We realize though, that as an organization and individuals, we are not where we need to be, but let us be clear: We support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Marc Yaggi, executive director of the Waterkeepers Alliance, in response to the unjustified killings of black and brown men and women by the police, has encouraged all Waterkeeper organizations to not only keep fighting for environmental justice, but also to fight racism and its root causes. His suggestion on where to start: Our own backyard. To quote from his statement, “Building a truly multiracial, inclusive environmental movement will also involve changing the culture of our organizations.”

These are unprecedented and uncertain times, but we must all work together to get through this crisis. The Yadkin Riverkeeper board and staff are committed to continue our work to protect and enhance the river, but we need your help to meet this challenge.

One of the compelling story lines emerging in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is the importance of local farms and access to locally produced food. Did you know that there are more than 1,000 farms in the Yadkin River watershed that market their products directly to consumers, generating nearly $6.5 million for local, mostly rural communities?

We want to give you some updates on changes that are happening at Yadkin Riverkeeper due to COVID-19.

Nearly 50 concerned citizens gathered at North Rowan High School in Spencer on the evening on February 24 to learn more about Duke Energy’s closure plan for its coal ash basins at the Buck Power Station on the Yadkin River in Rowan County. The NC Department of Environmental Quality or NCDEQ, conducted the hearing and will be responsible for approving final closure plans and other water quality permits.

With last week’s release of the new rule changes to the Clean Water Act, there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation spread on the internet about the effect of the changes. YRK would like to address some of those statements.

Yadkin Riverkeeper has sponsored paddles since the very beginning of the organization, with the goal of getting folks on the river to experience it firsthand and raise awareness of the problems it faces. Over time these paddles have taken many forms. This past summer we introduced a new format: The Historical Paddle Series (HPS).

Yadkin Riverkeeper Comments Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-0463

Agency Policy for Determining if Harmful Algae Blooms or Hypoxia Event in Freshwater is an “Event of National Significance.”

Yadkin Riverkeeper is excited to be a part of the first annual NC Trail Days being held in Elkin and its across-the-river neighbor, Jonesville, May 31 – June 2. NC Trail Days will showcase the Elkin Valley Trail Association’s efforts to develop a network of hiking, biking, paddling and horse trails in and around Elkin, Jonesville and Surry County.

For 10,000 years, civilizations have gathered on the banks of the Yadkin River at the site of the soon to be opened Yadkin River Park in Davidson County. Located in the heart of both the Trading Ford and Yadkin River Crossings National Historic Districts, this site has served as a hub for exploration, commerce and revolution, as well as a connector of people and communities of all walks of life, for many generations. The park’s development was a major focus of the recent Piedmont Legacy Trails Summit held at Salem Lake Marina.

North Carolina Riverkeepers, including Yadkin Riverkeeper, are engaged in a high stakes battle to reign in the proliferation of concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs across the state. While it is true there has been a moratorium in place on new industrial hog operations (IHOs) using lagoon and spray field technologies for more than 20 years, the Environmental Working Group and the Waterkeeper Alliance have recently issued a new report, ground truthed by our Riverkeeper, documenting a significant expansion of poultry operations in the state.

Over the past several years, Yadkin Riverkeeper has been closely following state regulatory efforts to assess and address the contamination resulting from the former ALCOA aluminum smelter near Badin Lake. That work is far from finished.