The Pigeon River courses past the Canton rec park, but scrambling down the bank to reach the water was difficult and caused erosion. The section hosts the annual Kids in the Creek program put on by Haywood Waterways.

“There’s good diversity of river habitat, which enables the kids to see a great diversity of fish and other aquatic animals,” said Eric Romaniszyn, Haywood Waterways’ executive director. “Every year I was concerned about what the kids were doing to the river bank as they went up and down, as well as the risk of injury to the students or tearing our waders.” 

So, Haywood Waterways and Canton started stabilizing the bank with old concrete sidewalk slabs, getting volunteers from Boy Scout Troop #316 to reroute a stormwater drainage ditch away from the project area. A grant from the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina paid for the work.

Sediment, which the project will reduce, is Haywood County’s number one pollutant. Dirt washing off into streams and rivers clogs intake pipes, smothers habitat for aquatic organisms and can fill reservoirs and reduce game fish populations.

828.476.4667 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. www.haywoodwaterways.org.