A-B Tech Green Infrastructure Project

RiverLink is partnering with A-B Tech to address runoff and sediment pollution in Haith Branch and the impaired French Broad River. Green infrastructure will be used to keep runoff on site where it can soak into the ground and be filtered naturally. Construction is planned for fall 2024.

The project was identified in the Central Asheville Watershed Restoration Plan and has a three-part approach: 

  • Replace an underused parking lot with a wetland that will capture and filter runoff from 16 acres of hard surfaces on A-B Tech’s campus. 
  • Transform an eroded gully caused by the untreated runoff into a feature that slows down and soaks in any stormwater that leaves the wetland. 
  • Restore Haith Branch by stabilizing the eroding streambanks and planting native trees and shrubs

The project will prevent 200 tons of sediment from entering the French Broad annually!

Parking lot before wetland construction. Runoff from this area is piped into the forested area below where erosion contributes 200 tons of sediment to the French Broad River annually. 
The wetland will serve as an outdoor classroom for A-B Tech students and create a beautiful amenity for campus. Wetland design by Blue Earth Planning, Engineering, and Design, Osgood Landscape Architecture. 
Eroded gully caused by untreated runoff from 16 acres of hard surfaces. The gully drains to Haith Branch and the impaired French Broad River as it flows through the River Arts District.
Concept design for eroded gully by Spackman Mossop Michaels. Final design and construction oversight provided by Wildlands Engineering. 

This project is funded by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality through Section 319 of the Federal Clean Water Act, administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; North Carolina Land and Water Fund; Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s Pigeon River Fund; and Buncombe County.