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Making the Yadkin safer
New signs will tell users of Yadkin where to portage to avoid dam; landowner, city discuss plans
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Montie Hamby, the president of the Yadkin Pee Dee River Trail Association, looks at a portage sign that is hardly visible to passing canoeists.
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Published: September 1, 2008
Updated: 09/01/2008 01:05 am
CLEMMONS - Neil Conner jokes that paddling a stretch of the Yadkin River can be "pretty dam scary."
The dam he is talking about is Idols Dam, which stretches several hundred feet across the river and drops about 10 feet.
The scary part is that a sign warning paddlers that they are approaching the dam is covered in vegetation. Another sign letting people know where to portage (carry a canoe overland) is bent down to such a degree that the lettering is not visible from the river.
This creates a hazardous situation for paddlers who don't know that the river is about to take a dangerous drop. Low-head dams, such as Idols, are often referred to as "drowning machines" because of the way the recirculating water continues to pull a person underwater.
Conner is a member of High Rock Lake Paddlers. In late July, he and other paddlers took a trip from the Tanglewood access to private property about 11 miles downstream.
Though the put-in sign at Tanglewood warns of a dam downstream, Conner said he was alarmed that, as he paddled, he didn't see any signs indicating how close they were to the dam. Such signs are typical on rivers.
Concerned, he asked some fishermen about the dam, who told them where to portage. Idols Dam is about two miles downstream from the Tanglewood put-in.
Terry Tester was paddling with Conner that day.
"It took an effort to find it," he said about the portage site. "To the unknowing paddler, this would be a major concern."
Tester and Conner worry that when the river is higher and the current swifter, novice paddlers could spend so much time looking for the portage that they could get swept over the dam. Both banks are steep and covered in dense vegetation.
Conner has paddled many miles on the Yadkin River. He said that this spot concerns him more than any other place on the river.
"We thought someone could be in trouble real quick," Conner said.
Winston-Salem bought the dam from Northbrook Carolina Hydro in 2002. But the portage, which is in Davie County, sits on land that belongs to Keith Comer of Advance.
Montie Hamby, the president of the Yadkin Pee Dee River Trail Association, learned of the problem with the signs earlier this summer and brought it to the attention of the City-County Utilities Division.
The utilities division plans to put up a sign alerting paddlers to the dam and telling them where to portage. One sign will be placed on the riverbank about 250 yards from the dam; another large one will be hung from a railroad trestle a few yards behind the portage, said Bill Brewer, the water-treatment superintendent for the utilities division.
The signs should be in place in two to three weeks, he said.
Brewer is also talking with Comer about improving the portage area.
Portages vary widely, ranging from landing areas with concrete steps to narrow trails up steep banks. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires hydroelectric plants to provide a portage from the top to the bottom of dams as part of its licensing requirements. But hydroelectricity is no longer generated at Idols Dam.
Comer said that when he bought the property officials from Northbrook told him it was up to him to decide whether to allow access. The city recently cleared vegetation from the steep trail that serves as the portage. Two partially submerged logs in front of the portage still make the bank difficult to reach.
Comer said he wants to learn more about how the city would improve the portage before agreeing to anything.
"I don't want it to be a gathering spot," Comer said.
Hamby said he thinks that the signs will help paddlers, but that ultimately people need to do some homework before getting on a river.
"You have to accept the responsibility for yourself," he said. "You have to provide for your own safety, and part of that is education."
Mark Singleton of the American Whitewater Association agreed. "Any canoeist should be aware of a horizon line that they can't see below," he said. "The buck stops with each of us and we have to be responsible for our own safety on the water."
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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