Flooding

[DC69Wildcat]

Bliss has power!

Don't tell him that! Oh, wait. You mean his electricity has been restored.

[Waitress]

Bliss has power!

Don't tell him that! Oh, wait. You mean his electricity has been restored.

[Dr. Bliss]

Hey everybody, I’m ok. Got power back and, since I have a well, have water too. Most of the affected area still has no water—think about that for a minute. The Asheville reservoir is located about a mile and a half from my house and the amount of rain triggered an automatic release that devastated much downstream, including huge water supply pipes. 22” rain in a 24-hr period at my house. So I’ve been spending time helping clear roadways and washing other folks’ clothes, etc. A bypass line is currently being engineered and installed and they hope to bring it online soon, but still probably will be a matter of days or weeks. By and large we are seeing the best of humanity here as so many people pitch in to help one another. It will be a long haul, and some of my favorite areas will never recover, like the small lake at Owen Park where my 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter sat in my lap and caught her first fish just a few short weeks ago. It’s truly heartbreaking. I have no internet at my house and won’t for the foreseeable future—have to travel to a starlink set up at a local church to get WiFi. I miss the board and all my friends here, but I really don’t have time right now to read the board anyway. If you are able and so inclined, I urge you to make a donation to disaster relief and try to make it specific to western NC. Every little bit will help. Go Cats!

[MrMac]

Great to hear from you, sir. I donated via the Greenville, SC telethon on WYFF. Continued prayers for you, your family, and the communities hard-hit by Helene.

[DC69Wildcat]

Dr. Bliss, you might be interested in knowing that a huge benefit concert dedicated to hurricane relief has been scheduled for October 26 at Bank of America Stadium. Performers are Luke Combs, Eric Church, James Taylor, and Billy Strings, with "more to be added later." I'm thinking Miss Dolly. I'm also thinking they should include a singer/songwriter/guitar player from Black Mountain.
https://www.axios.com/local/charlotte/2 ... um-concert

[stevelee]

Trout fishing report:

https://youtu.be/OFNwnXOF8Us?si=KvDJkuwNVF46JkEO

[Dr. Bliss]

Thanks. Trout fisheries tend to be quite resilient when faced with these types of flooding events. Tropical storm Fred a few years back caused worse flooding on the Davidson than Helene and I noticed little to no impact on the fishery. For sure the scenic beauty of the river was negatively impacted due to eroded banks, severe log jams, etc. Scouring of the river bottom can cause a loss of aquatic insects trout feed on, but this is usually a temporary problem.

[DC69Wildcat]

My biggest concern is not damage to the river, but the loss of the hatchery fish. I generally don't fish Hatchery Supported and Delayed Harvest trout streams, but they get probably 75% of the fishing pressure this time of year. That has really been a good thing for the Wild Trout streams that I like to fish, which receive no stocked fish and generally provide a bit more challenging experience. Besides being more challenging, though, the Wild Trout streams are more remote, more fragile, and more impacted by fishing pressure. Hatchery fish aren't much bothered by crowds of fishermen wading through the stream, whereas wild fish are much more wary and will be "put down" for an hour or more by a single fisherman. Put 2 or 3 times as many fishermen on a wild stream, and chances are good that the catch rate will go down rather drastically. Besides, I just like the solitude of having a half mile of a mountain stream to myself.

[i77cat]

Merry Christmas!

https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2024-11-01 ... ther-warns

[Dr. Bliss]

I have wondered why it is not feasible to capture the water closer to where it enters the reservoir where it is not turbid and pipe it down to the treatment plant which is just over a mile below. Probably would not provide the volume needed to feed the system, since the reservoir functions like a big holding tank, but could provide a good bit. The reservoir itself is silty because the great volume of water coming in included lots of silt from mud slides etc., plus it stirred up silt on the bottom of the lake. The silt is composed of very fine ionized particles that will take a long time to eventually settle out. The main system distribution pipes that were destroyed have been replaced by a single, large pipe that is now carrying water; the problem is the water is too turbid for the plant to treat effectively.