Dance for the River Summer Series

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It's been a busy summer and the Dance for the River series is about wrapped up and I'm already thinking how hard it will be to choose only 25 images to build the exhibition this fall. It's been such a journey to explore this river with the dancers and with our Yadkin Riverkeeper, Will Scott. I've learned a lot about threats to our river and the importance to make a stand in some way for clean water. It's a gift that should be protected.

My first of three shoots began inside a 3' pipe kneeling in a trickle of water that is the beginning of the mighty Yadkin.

The trickle flows out of the pipe into a small creek surrounded by a road crew doing a major expansion on Hwy 321 in Blowing Rock.

 

The creek becomes a river as it joins the Tailwaters at Kerr Scott Dam where it becomes the drinking source for Winston-Salem.

From the Tailwaters it travels through Ronda and Elkin, once a hub for many textile industries and mills along the river. I was chasing a rumor about cows in the river. A major threat to the river is agricultural run off which causes of silt in the river. I didn't find any cows bathing in the river on this float, but I did find new home construction that had clear cut a path through the buffer of the river. Buffers are as important as fencing in cattle in terms of protecting from erosion and run off.

While this section seemed isolated, we had a few reminders of civilization by the intake pipes for the town of Ronda's drinking water.

The last shoot took us under I-85 where the Yadkin River empties into several lake, finally resting in Badin Lake near Salisbury.

So, get out on your rivers and creeks and learn about ways we can come together to protect them.