Letter: Support bond for greenways and climate resilience

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Now that climate change in the form of Tropical Storm Helene has shown us it can climb our mountains and wreak havoc on our people and places, I think we should think through the role of our greenway corridors. For a host of reasons, we build our greenways along waterways, whether major rivers or their feeding streams. We stress their value for health, multimodal transportation, natural conservation and open space recreation.

Now it is clear that we must fit them into a framework for water flow management. Each stream flows into the Swannanoa or French Broad rivers, and from there to regional and national water bodies on their return to the sea. With climate change growing, we must have a manageable system for protecting our people and communities from devastation, death and the separation of families.

This will require determination and vision and draw upon the long-term experience of countries and institutions over years of trial and error. One world leader in this is Holland, where the Dutch have applied themselves to this for over a millennium. They are the experts of the world in working with nature’s watercourses and not against them.

Elements of their system include the redesign of adjacent areas to protect their uses by introducing new detention ponds, parks and plazas, wetlands and green areas to slow the water while thoroughly engaging the people and institutions in harm’s way. This is resilience planning that we can learn from.

On Nov. 5, city residents will be asked to vote on a referendum on important city general obligation bonds for many public purposes, including expanding our greenway system. The city has agreed that if the referendum is approved, $4.9 million will be provided for the design and engineering to extend the Reed Creek Greenway north to connect with the Wilma Dykeman Greenway along the French Broad River and $600,000 for a feasibility study of the Smith Mill Creek Greenway along Patton Avenue.

We should approve the bonds for the evolution of our city and county greenways because they are wise investments in our future and allow us to respond creatively to climate change.

— David Nutter
Asheville

Editor’s note: Nutter notes that he’s a lifetime member of the American Planning Association and the chairman of the Connect Buncombe Advocacy and Partnerships Committee.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.