Save Our Saluda

The goal of Save Our Saluda?s 319 project is to reduce sediment runoff in the Upper Saluda Watershed through implementation of agricultural and rural Best Management Practices (BMPs). During 2024, Save Our Saluda provided financial assistance for implementation of BMPS at multiple eligible sites in the watershed. The Middle Saluda River project involved 350 feet of streambank stabilization, 200 feet of which was funded through the Upper Saluda 319 program and partner match. Structural stabilization and streambank protection included grading, installation of boulder toe rock and multiple in-stream rock vane structures to deflect erosive flows away from the streambank. Streambank bioengineering BMPs included seeding, coir matting, and installation of native live stakes and herbaceous plugs along streambank slopes. Approximately 72,000 ft2 of riparian buffer was restored and enhanced along 1,800 feet of river frontage with 470 native trees and shrubs planted during volunteer workdays. Two rock-lined waterways were strategically located and installed through an existing levee berm to provide a hydrologic connection between the river and the floodplain during high flows.

Save Our Saluda hosted four volunteer river cleanups on the North Saluda River after Hurricane Helene. Save Our Saluda participated as a stakeholder in the monthly Saluda River Basin Planning meetings to develop the Saluda River Basin Plan, which included a review of surface water availability over a 50-year planning horizon and documentation of water management strategies to help ensure water availability for all future uses. Save Our Saluda worked on local policies for riparian buffer protection in the Upper Saluda Watershed. Save Our Saluda helped to facilitate partner cooperation for land conservation of priority areas in the watershed for source water protection.