|
Sylva talks erosion control following July downpour
By Carey King
After walking many of Sylva’s streams following the July storm that flooded town streets, homes and businesses, Zoning Administrator Jim Aust said Aug. 5 that the town needs ordinances for erosion and sediment control.
“Our streams and branches are filling up. They can’t carry their water anymore,” he said. “They have taken their own course of action, which is to flow through people’s houses, and they haven’t done that in 30 or 40 years.”
Town board members agreed with Aust’s suggestion to contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the N.C. Division of Water Quality and the Federal Emergency Management Agency concerning the problem.
The last time FEMA updated its flood maps for the area was 1990, Aust said.
“(The July storm) wasn’t a real flood. That was a downpour,” he said.
Since Sylva sits in a valley, it needs stringent regulations for erosion control, Aust said.
The Division of Water Quality mandates standards for trout-feed streams, while the Corps of Engineers must approve any plans to alter water flow through town, Aust said.
|
