However, E. coli levels can change at any time and frequently increase after rain events. There it teems with fish and is wild and untamed. Photos (1) gage site at Marshall on French Broad River I am the French Broad River, named by French settlers in the region centuries ago at a time when I was one of the two broad rivers in western North Carolina. As a general rule, if the water is clear, then E. coli levels are likely to be low. Learn to Love the River. Discover what makes the French Broad River so special and learn about the many ways it connects our community. 7: The French Broad River is starting to flood low-lying areas on Blannahassett Island. The French Broad flows west into the Tennessee river which eventually joins the Mississippi, and so the name might have been given around that time. If you scroll down and look underneath the first chart, you will see a highlighted box with the most recent reading of the French Broad River level, measured in CFS (cubic feet per second). “Right before jumping into the river, the number one question people ask me is ‘Is it clean?’” says French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson. Check Out Past Issues : ... Turbidity is a measure of how cloudy the water is with sediment, so the cloudier it is the more turbid the water. Beginning gently as a narrow waterway in the southwestern edge of the state, the river gains steam and breadth as it passes through Asheville and the more craggy valleys to the north. As the French Broad nears Asheville, the river becomes much wider, and a water-treatment facility built on the river… Overall, E. coli levels in the French Broad River are low, and the river is typically safe for swimming. The team, headed by French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson, collects water samples in order to monitor the quality of the river. Carson states a sample taken Jan. 27 behind the former location of the 12 Bones Smokehouse contained 65 times more than the safe limit for E. coli, a bacteria known for causing illness in humans. It flows northeast into Henderson County, where it turns northwest and courses through Buncombe and Madison Counties. The river is approaching the railroad tracks in the Back Street area. The French Broad flows through the city of Asheville, where it picks up the Swannanoa River and continues north into Tennessee. For 117 miles, the French Broad River flows freely northward from its headwaters in Transylvania County, N.C. This is extremely rare in the summertime. Low-lying areas along Hayes Run Creek in the Rollins area are beginning to flood. Asheville, NC – The French Broad Riverkeeper has released the State of the French Broad River Watershed 2018, the first published report that grades the cleanliness and water quality of 62 creeks and streams throughout the French Broad Watershed. French Broad River is formed by the junction of North Fork and West Fork in southern Transylvania County near the town of Rosman. For more than 200 miles, the French Broad River flows in a northern "bow" trajectory through some of the most beautiful landscape in Western North Carolina. The Cherokee have a variety of names for me: Agiqua in the mountains, Zillicoah above Asheville, and Tahkeeosteh after Asheville. There was also another nearby river that had been named the Broad River, so the French could have been added to help differentiate it from the nearby Broad river. French Broad River weekly water quality testing by MountainTrue and NC DEQ show Asheville fails to meet the EPA’s E. coli standard for safe recreation. 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