In 2020, FLG established a partnership with Equinox Environmental to provide regularly scheduled water testing services as part of an ongoing water quality program for the lake.
Now that partnership is taking another step towards FLG’s mission of ensuring the continued protection and preservation of the lake through the establishment of a Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan. Visionary in its design, this plan will provide a roadmap moving forward, guiding FLG toward a future where our work is proactive rather than reactive.
WHO ARE EQUINOX ENVIRONMENTAL?
It was vitally important that FLG partner with someone who not only knows the area but has as vested an interest in preserving it as we do. Based in Asheville, NC, Equinox Environmental seemed the perfect fit. The award-winning planning and design firm whose focuses on conservation, sustainability, and environmentally responsible projects that mirror our own values. Their talented and passionate staff have diverse backgrounds in natural resources, ecology landscape architecture, land planning, recreation planning, conservation planning, environmental science, and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED). They have conducted regionally and nationally recognized projects for water resources planning, greenways & parks, sustainable design, residential developments, ecological design, and stormwater management.
WHY IS FLG PARTNERING WITH EQUINOX?
The Friends of Lake Glenville’s mission is to preserve and protect the continued beauty, integrity, safety, and survival of Lake Glenville. At the cornerstone of this mission is our work to monitor the lake’s water quality and implement the measures we can to ensure it remains healthy and safe for its own benefit and those who live, work, and play around it.
Our ability to do this relies heavily on regular testing of the lake and tributaries that feed into it.
In the past, Friends of Lake Glenville has endeavored to monitor the water quality of the lake through independent testing conducted by volunteers and in a pilot program initiated with Western Carolina University. However, the onset of a global pandemic put in stark relief the need for a consistent and professionally managed strategy that would ensure this vital work could continue regardless of circumstance.
After receiving a grant from Duke Energy to support and continue FLG’s water testing program and upon the recommendation of Dr. Kimberlee K Hall, PhD of the Environmental Health Program at WCU, we determined a partnership with Equinox would best suit our needs.
WHAT WILL EQUINOX DO?
Equinox services to FLG are two-fold. While continuing the water testing services contracted in 2020, FLG has now engaged Equinox to develop a Watershed Management Plan that provides clear and actionable strategies, serving as a guide to both professionals and residents alike.
This plan will communicate the desired management goals, provide a framework for landscape maintenance, and establish guidance on how to manage the various landscapes within the Lake Glenville watershed. The plan combines specific practices that can be used to implement the watershed management plan with a schedule of maintenance practices. The scope of this plan includes the following:
- Assess existing conditions through the collection and analyzation of data to establish a baseline for water conditions, soils, plants, and water resources
- Develop a Landscape Management Plan based on the above findings and with input from an advisory committee of FLG members to develop a clear vision and goals for the management plan.
- Provide a Watershed Management Guide crafted so FLG and local homeowners can follow the guidelines and implement the actions and recommendations of the plan overtime.
WHAT WILL FLG DO?
Friends of Lake Glenville was born out of and continues to thrive on the concern, dedication, and support of its members and those in the community who both recognize and cherish the integral role the lake plays in the ecosystem and our daily lives.
Our goal in partnering with Equinox to establish this visionary plan is to provide FLG and the larger community with the knowledge, understanding, and guidance to ensure that role remains and sustains far into the future.
FLG will serve as gatekeepers and champions of this plan, ensuring its distribution, accessibility, and implementation to the best of their ability, now and in the foreseeable future.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
There are many ways to be a part of this work. While this plan provides yet another tool in our arsenal towards achieving our mission, any contribution of time, talent, or resources -- no matter how seemingly small -- is both vital and greatly appreciated.
- Follow the Watershed Management Plan: Once the plan has been developed and released for publication, we encourage you and your communities to adopt it as part of your own thoughts about, interactions with, and care for the lake.
- Join Friends of Lake Glenville: Membership to FLG provides both financial and personal support to everything we do. We offer varying levels of membership and encourage you to engage at whatever level is most comfortable for you. Join now.
- Become a Sponsor: Corporate sponsors are companies, homeowners’ associations, non-profit organizations, or other business entities that wish to support FLG. Corporate sponsors may contribute towards a specific event, initiative, or other designation of their choosing, or may donate to the general fund, to be used at FLG's discretion. Contributions are tax-deductible. Become a sponsor here.
- Volunteer: The donation of time and energy are immeasurable in the success of everything we do, from conducting the work that supports our mission to arranging social events that give us the opportunity to meet and learn from those who hold the lake in as high a regard as we do. Volunteer here.
- Stay in the Know: Educating ourselves and our community on the work we do and the ways in which individuals can contribute is just as important as the work itself. Visit our website or follow us Facebook and Instagram for news, community service opportunities, events and more from FLG.