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Beaver Creek Watershed Initiative

Beaver Creek Links:

Beaver Creek Watershed Overview:  http://knoxcounty.org/stormwater/pdfs/beaver_creek_overview.pdf 

Beaver Creek Watershed Assessment Draft:  http://knoxcounty.org/stormwater/pdfs/beavercreek_draft.pdf

Beaver Creek Green Infrastructure Plan:  http://knoxcounty.org/stormwater/pdfs/beavercreek_draft.pdf

Beaver Creek Watershed Association:  www.beavercreekwatershed.org

Beaver Creek Plan 2007-present

Recently, we introduced you to the Beaver Creek Watershed in north Knox County. We ended by telling you that Beaver Creek had been assessed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. TDEC determined that the creek no longer met all of its designated uses, such as supporting aquatic life and wildlife and providing drinking water and recreation, and placed it on its 303d list of impaired streams. A short time later, in 1999, the Water Quality Forum decided to put together a team of its members to address the problems of Beaver Creek. This group became known as the Beaver Creek Task Force.

Initially, the BCTF conducted an assessment of the Beaver Creek Watershed to inventory resources and to identify problem areas. After a round of public meetings the data was assembled into a report and published in 2003. This study will help Knox County plan more effectively for flood control, water quality, and the allocation of land for open space, recreation, and trails. As a part of the assessment process a FEMA flood study was commissioned by The Knox County Department of Engineering, Stormwater Management Division for the creek. The results of this flood study were used to adopt a new Stormwater Ordinance for Knox County in 2000 that expanded the no build/no fill zone in the Beaver Creek floodplain. The assessment report is also being used as an educational/outreach tool by the Task Force and has been distributed to local and state leaders.

To view a draft a draft assessment of Beaver Creek by the WQF task force click here .

Also in 2003, the BCTF assisted in the formation of the Beaver Creek Watershed Association and is partnering with them on a number of educational and restoration projects. At the same time the Task Force obtained a grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority that was used to hire a Watershed Coordinator for Knox County to primarily focus on the Beaver Creek Watershed.

BCTF partners have published a 16 page tabloid on Beaver Creek that was distributed to stakeholders as inserts in local newspapers. BCTF partnered with the University of Tennessee Water Resource Research Center to get the Adopt-A-Watershed Program into six watershed high schools and middle schools; and partnered with the Hallsdale Powell Utility District with its traveling environmental education program for elementary schools in the watershed.

BCTF has turned its recent focus to preparing a comprehensive Watershed Restoration Plan, assisting TDEC in its data collection for the TMDL for Beaver Creek, and looking for restoration opportunities in the watershed. In the summer of 2004 the BCTF presented a proposal to the Tennessee Stream Mitigation Program to restore a five-mile reach of Beaver Creek. The $500,000 project was accepted and is now in its beginning stages.

Another recent Task Force project has retained the University of Tennessee School of Architecture and Design to prepare a Green Infrastructure plan for the watershed. This plan will identify those areas best suited for preservation as natural areas, parks, and other open space applications. It will also identify the land best suited for development. The Green Infrastructure plan will be promoted for use as a planning tool for Knox County and other agencies involved in the watershed.

Through its current and future efforts the Beaver Creek Task Force envisions the Beaver Creek Watershed as a desirable place to live, with its beautiful vistas and open spaces protected, its waters wadeable and fishable, and its floodplain returned to its natural function of storing waters during high flows. It envisions vibrant communities that are distinct in history and culture yet united by the valley corridor. Communities will have access to Beaver Creek and its tributaries to recreate and reflect so that they may be better able to appreciate its ecology and be inspired to preserve and protect it through their own actions.

To see stream gage data from USGS click here look at Upper TN River.

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