Nantahala – Blockages created by debris from the multiple landslides that occurred on Aug. 24 will keep an 8-mile stretch of the Nantahala River closed to public and commercial access through the holiday weekend and until future notice.
The U.S. Forest Service, along with multiple contractors have been on-site with heavy equipment since the morning of Aug. 28, but there is much work to be done before the emergency closure of the Nantahala can be lifted.
Adrienne Rubiaco, a Public Affairs Specialist for National Forests in North Carolina, a branch of the U.S. Forest Service said that the current plan is for the contractors to work on debris removal through Friday and that the Forest Service, along with a handful of specialists, will assess the progress of the cleanup and plan a course of action accordingly going into the weekend.
"Operations are in full effect right now and we've been working at four landslide sites simultaneously with our contractors," Rubiaco said on Thursday. "And they're making great progress. Our plan is to keep working during the day today and all day tomorrow as well and then at the end of the day tomorrow we will assess where they are at and have a plan going into the weekend."
Once the debris, which includes rocks, timber and other organic/inorganic materials, is removed from the river, the Forest Service will work with Duke Energy to test the health of the river through water releases from the dam.
The group will then observe and assess the impact of the releases on the areas of the river that have been affected by the slides to determine if any further action is needed.
For the time being, the public is prohibited from accessing an 8-mile stretch of the Nantahala that stretches from the Nantahala put-in area and the Silver Mine take-out area and includes all National Forest land within the zone throughout the weekend.
"We did suspend all commercial operation on the Nantahala and today we are officially implementing an emergency closing order," Rubiaco explained. "That will restrict all public access to the river from the put-in to the take-out. It's about eight miles of river and it will apply to everyone in the public and all National Forest land between those two areas."
The closure of the river is expected to have a significant impact on the whitewater outfitters that rely on the Nantahala River, which will be amplified due to the weekend being Labor Day, typically seen as the last big water tourism weekend of the season.
In a statement posted on their social media, the Nantahala Outdoor Center encouraged people to stay off of the river and expressed that there was still plenty of recreational opportunities in the area not related to the Nantahala River.
"Regardless of water release levels, we support the Forest Service’s conservative and risk-conscious decision and encourage recreational users to stay off of the Nantahala River until the suspension is lifted," NOC's post read. "For guests and visitors to Nantahala Outdoor Center and other area businesses over the busy Labor Day Weekend: We STILL WELCOME YOU to the region, hope you decide to spend your holiday weekend in the mountains and look forward to making sure you have an unforgettable weekend of outdoor adventure."
Read more about impact of the Nantahala River's closure on the whitewater outfitters and the local economy in next week's edition of the Cherokee Scout.