Hall County and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials have ideas to restore a watershed along Dahlonega Highway at the northern tip of the county, but property owners have mixed reactions.
Officials from CH2M HILL, an engineering company that works with the corps, presented plans that would reduce erosion, increase native fish and plants, and create natural floodplains.
"This watershed was identified as one of the most degraded in the county, and it's on the state's list that isn't meeting standards due to water quality," said Lauren Murphy of CH2M HILL. "There's been a lot of technical work to get to where we are today."
The watershed was identified in the late 1990s as a problem, and the Corps-Mobile District partnered with Hall County in 2002 to evaluate the potential for restoration. Following a planning process to identify problems, predict future conditions of the river, create possible projects and evaluate effects of the projects, corps employees evaluated the most cost-effective ideas to treat the area.
The river, which is part of the Chattahoochee River Basin, drains directly into Lake Lanier. The area, currently 53 percent agriculture use and 23 percent residential use, is slated for large residential growth by 2030.
Since 2006, corps and CH2M HILL employees traced 40 miles along the river and its tributaries to identify 17 problem areas and develop 30 project plans to help the watershed. After determining which projects would give the most benefit for the least cost, the group recommended three stream restoration projects and the creation of three wetlands.
Officials held a public hearing in January 2008 to gauge initial public interest, and property owners turned out for Tuesday's second public hearing to express their concerns. The proposed projects are completely voluntary for owners.
"It affects too much land, from my point of view," said James Young, who owns land with his wife Mongah. James Young Jr. and wife Martha Young also expressed their concerns about the creation of a wetland that would take up 9 acres.
"If the land around it was later developed for residential use, people wouldn't want a swamp or wetland in their back yard," Young said.
The Young family also asked about the possibility of mosquitoes with standing water, specifics about the design of the wetland and how it would fit with their current property.
"That's a circle of wetland cut out of our property," Mongah said. "We farm in that spot, and that's a big loss of revenue and land."
CH2M HILL officials will continue to gauge response from property owners at other proposed project areas before moving forward with any plan. Future steps would include requests for federal grant funding and approval from Hall County commissioners before officials develop more detailed plans and actually begin work on the river.
"This is your land. I'm sensing that you may not think it's the best use of your property," said Chrissy Thom, another CH2M HILL representative. "Projects like this will improve your property values. But if you don't buy what I'm saying, that's OK. This was noted as one of the most cost effective and straightforward of the projects, but we can move on to other cost effective alternatives. We have room to adjust and make this work."