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The Haw River is still high after the last flood.  Stay out of the river – high water level and stormwater pollution make it  dangerous.

CAUTION to PADDLERS: The Haw River is very dangerous at high flow.  Go to the USGS  current conditions at Bynum  to check the current river level.   Open boats such as canoes should not put in when the water is above 5.7 feet on the Bynum gauge. When the river is between 5.1 and 5.7, experience in controlling a boat in whitewater is necessary.  Even experienced kayakers can get in trouble in high water where floating and submerged trees create major hazards.   Novices with little white water experience should stay out when the gauge is above normal flow -about 4.7 feet. ALWAYS WEAR A PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVICE!  Helmets are recommended in whitewater.

It was a beautiful day on the river! Thanks to everyone that came out and thanks to all the Silent Auction donors,  and to Get Outdoors in Greensboro for the donation of the Perception kayak we raffled off, (and to Saxapahaw General  Store for advance ticket sales). Much appreciation to Paperhand Puppets for our parade and to all the musicians – Village Band of Chapel Hill, Tim Smith Band, CounterclockwiseString Band , and Diali Cissokho for filling the day with beautiful sounds.

Many thanks to ALL our great volunteers – and finally, to Saturdays in Saxapahaw for letting us kick off their season with our festival.  You can come back to Saxapahaw all summer long for music and the market, every Saturday, 5 -8 pm!

Annual Holiday T Shirt Sale

This December, HRA’s office is once again transformed into a holiday shop with many years of colorful Haw River shirts for sale, all designed by Clyde Jones, Bynum’s world famous folk artist. We have vintage shirts from $5 – $15, as well as our brand new “Dragonfly” shirt at $25 (youth shirts for $20) on 100% organic cotton by T.S.Designs.  Copies of the beautiful new “River” art book and “Down Along the Haw”, history of the Haw River by Anne Cassebaum, will also be for sale (both are $25 with proceeds going to HRA).

When: M-F now through Dec. 21  from 10am-4 pm

Saturday,  12/10  and 12/17  from 10am-2pm

 

General Assembly continues to delay Jordan Lake rules

The state environmental department announced on May 5  that it will discontinue the SolarBee project after 21 months of data indicated no significant improvement in water quality.  We applaud the end to this expensive and ridiculous folly.   The latest bad idea that emerged this summer from the NC General Assembly was to study the use of mussels to filter the waters of Jordan Lake – even though mussel populations have plummeted in the Haw River due to pollution and sediment.  That idea has vanished only to be replaced by more delays of the rules and more wasted money on studies on how to find a magical solution to treat pollution in the lake instead of reducing it at the source.  The legislature needs to stop stalling and just re-instate the rules that will improve water quality in Jordan Lake.

May 20 , 2015    Wake County Superior Court today stayed a constitutional challenge to the state’s Mining and Energy Commission by the Haw River Assembly and a Lee County landowner pending a decision in the appeal of McCrory v. Berger or until further order of the court. During the stay, the MEC is enjoined from accepting or processing permit applications for drilling units and from creating any drilling units. This effectively reinstates the moratorium on fracking in North Carolina.  Read the full PRESS RELEASE about the injunction. Read the full Haw River v. MEC court order.

The lawsuit against the MEC charges that the commission violates the separation of powers provision of the North Carolina Constitution because a majority of the commission’s members are political appointees by the legislature, and that the fracking rules, created by an unconstitutional commission, are therefore null and void. (Read the  press release concerning the lawsuit and the full  legal complaint)

“Today’s decision stopped any immediate harm to North Carolina residents from a commission formed by the state legislature in violation of the separation of powers firmly established in our state constitution pending further court deliberations,” said John Suttles, the senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center who represented the Haw River Assembly and Lee County property owner Keely Wood Puricz before the court.