Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Emma Community Forum on I-26 Project
Friday, June 26, 2009
Leilani Loves the Alliance
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
New Maps Help Pinpoint Landslide Hazard Risk
High Country Press
February 12, 2009 Issue, Story by Kathleen McFadden
Link to this article: http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2009/02-12-09/new_maps.htm
Staff members at the Southern Environmental Law Center have been working on maps to more accurately and adequately identify landslide risks in
The SELC maps overlay
The subdivision data used for the maps came directly from the county and the landslide hazard information came directly from the state.
According to SELC Senior Attorney D.J. Gerken, the principal focus in assessing landslide risk has historically been at the point of origin, but most damage occurs in the debris path, the downslope areas from the origin. Calling attention to these debris paths and alerting property owners and prospective property owners to the risk, he said, is one goal of the mapping project, along with identifying unstable slopes where landslides could originate. “Lots currently on the market have this risk,” Gerken said, “and buyers have no way to find out. These are slopes you do not want to disturb without thinking about it.”
Gerken said that just because a tract has an identified landslide risk doesn’t mean it can’t be developed, but such a risk indicates a need for an engineering assessment to determine the best way to build that will cause the least disturbance and risk to properties downslope. “We want people going in with their eyes wide open,” Gerken said.
About 17 percent of
Thanks to the work of the North Carolina Geological Survey, Gerken continued,
One option, Gerken said, would be to identify landslide hazards on subdivision plats, just as floodplain risks are required to be identified now. “We already plan for 100-year risks in the floodplain, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t plan for 100-year risks when it comes to landslide hazards as well,” he said.
Another option is to require builders to consult a geotechnical engineer before building in the highest risk areas.
The SELC’s work doesn’t end with the production of these landslide hazard maps. Currently, a survey of
The SELC plans to explore other development issues, including a look at whether the state’s degradation of some area streams correlates to development and graphic presentations of how subdivisions currently planned for High Country viewsheds would look if they were built.
The purple dots on this map of Watauga County show NC Geological Survey-identified places where landslides have started in the past. Currently, 990 houses in major subdivisions (this does not include non-subdivision lots) are on lots where landslides have started in the past, and 321 lots with historic landslides on them have been subdivided but not yet built upon.
This map zooms on the southeastern corner of the county that has by far seen the most subdivision development in recent years. It shows the overlap between areas identified by the NC Geological Survey as being in the “unstable” classification with comparatively higher risk of landslides and lots that have been subdivided but not yet built upon.
This map shows the overlap between unbuilt subdivision parcels in the southeast of the county and the potential debris flow pathways where landslides might go once started.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Strategic Funning
Scary monsters lurked everywhere.
Phillip Gibson maps out Antarctica with an intensity that could melt through icebergs.
Wendy Pataprsty doodles while contemplating buying a vowel.
What a bug sees when flying at Randall Boggs.
And last but not least, the whistling hot water pot. It attempted to serenade us so we evicted it to the hallway (doesn't it look so lonely? I felt a bit "Brave Little Toaster" about this one).