Laurel River Watershed

There are four sites in the Laurel River watershed, Laurel Creek at Walnut Mountain rates poor, Shelton Laurel rates below average, Little Laurel rates below average, and the Laurel River in Hot Springs rates poor. Although most median levels of the various pollutants analyzed are relatively low, this watershed is very vulnerable to runoff during rain events and exhibits great extremes. On any given day the water quality in this watershed is excellent, but during rains large amounts of sediment and the pollutants it carries pour into these streams. For this reason the watershed receives rather low ratings.

The site with the most consistent water quality problems is the one on Laurel Creek at Walnut Mountain. Median sediment concentrations have increased greatly in the past three years despite dryer than normal weather conditions. Median heavy metals concentrations have also increased significantly and, in the past year, copper and zinc water quality standards were exceeded several times. This creek has been greatly affected by the construction of I-26. Interestingly, most other pollutant levels have not changed greatly, which would seem to indicate that this stream is not as influenced by other pollutant sources and may return to more normal conditions once road construction is completed.

Normal conditions, however, still leave the Laurel River watershed highly vulnerable during rain events. Shelton Laurel and Little Laurel may be largely protected in the extensive forested areas upstream but, once the streams reach populated areas, runoff becomes a serious problem. The Laurel River receives all of the pollutants from its tributaries and water quality will not improve in this stream until measures are taken to protect its tributaries. Once again, protecting stream borders and maintaining topsoil in place are crucial to protecting this watershed. Ideally, these measures should be taken before extensive build-up of silt collects in the stream beds as it has in many of the lower areas of the Ivy River watershed.