“Why can’t they do something about pollution?” you may ask.

Actually, “they” are doing something. In Western North Carolina, there are many organizations concerned with water quality — federal and state agencies, local governments, recreation and sportsman groups and private citizens.

While each of these groups are effective in their own right, there are times when collaboratiive efforts can be even more effective. And that’s where the Little Tennessee Non-Point Source Team comes in.

We coordinate resources and activities for those collaborative efforts, pool our scientific knowledge, and promote public awareness through educational workshops and demonstrations.

Past programs have included —

Conservation Easement Workshop at Western North Carolina University.
Participants included engineers, attorneys, cnsultants, developers, professors, agency staff and directors of other non-profits.

Erosion and Sedimentation Control Tour at Balsam Mountain Preserve
The Little Tennessee Watershed Association and the LTNPS Team helped support this event attended by 35 participants.

Grant money, through the LTNPST, was used to create a working stream model which is used as an educational tool throughout the Little Tennessee River Basin. Plastic granular media “soil” in conjunction with flowing water helps demonstrate a stream’s fluvial geomorphologic behavior by showing the three processes of erosion; detachment, transportation and deposition. Artificial riparian zones can be placed along the stream edge together with in-stream structures to show how a reach of stream can be stabilized and erosion reduced.

This is first time a model of this caliber has been available in western North Carolina. This is a great “hands on” tool that has been very effective in delivering our conservation message to kids as-well-as adults.