French Broad River Basin
By; Tyler Shaw and Abby Ferree
Where is the River Basin located in North Carolina (Headwaters & Mouth)?
The headwaters of the French Broad River spill from a 50-foot waterfall in Transylvania County. Known as Court House Falls, the waterfall rushes into a creek that feeds the North Fork, which joins the West Fork near Rosman and eventually the Middle and East forks to form the French Broad. The French Broad River Basin drains land in both North Carolina and Tennessee. Besides the French Broad River, the basin includes two other major watersheds in North Carolina: the Pigeon and Nolichucky rivers—tributaries that join the French Broad in Tennessee. The Mills, Davidson and Swannanoa rivers are major tributaries of the French Broad River in North Carolina.
How many miles of streams and rivers are included in the basin?
3,985 miles of streams and the size is 2,829 square miles.
How many people live in the basin?
2 different land organisms, aquatic organisms and plants
Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)
Eastern Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Eastern Hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
swamp pink (Helonias bullata)
Little Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum
Landmark's in are River Basin
Non-Point Source Pollution
Point-Source Pollution
Impoundments are a point-source pollution because they can contaminate the water or things such as overflowing of reservoirs can affect the amount of pollution in the French Broad. Also, things such as toxic wastes are a point=source pollution. Toxic wastes were discharged directly to the Pigeon River, (which is part of the French Broad), eliminating many priority aquatic species. The solution to point-source pollution is to treat the waters to improve water quality, help recover the native animal species and to try to monitor the amount of toxic waste in the water.