Dividing Water / Bramlett Bottoms

Throughout the last ten years, Naturaland Trust has worked with many state and local partners to protect land and conduct restoration projects along the North Saluda River to improve water quality downstream. Historically, we have worked farther down in the watershed protecting hundreds of acres with robust forests, prime farmland, important tributaries and access points for paddlers. 

In 2020, we purchased 40 acres with over half a mile frontage along the river only a few parcels away from the Greenville Watershed, SCDNR Poinsett Heritage Preserve, and the Boy Scouts of America Camp Indian. This property, called Dividing Water Preserve, is strategic for many reasons. 

Recent temperature data gathered by SCDNR fisheries biologists have revealed that bottom releases from the Poinsett Reservoir are cold enough to be able to sustain a breeding population of trout in this section of the river. In other words, with the right management, this stretch of river could become a new trout fishery in northern Greenville county. Before trout could be reestablished, however, we needed to restore parts of the property that were negatively impacting the river.

One of our main motivations for protecting this property was to protect the river frontage and stop soil loss and sediment from entering the North Saluda. Sediment not only covers the rocky beds that many native fish rely upon but it also serves as a vehicle for transporting pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals downstream, altering the river ecology. Throughout late fall and early spring we embarked on a transformation that would provide enormous benefit to the watershed for years to come.

Through Save Our Saluda's 319 grant and guidance, we immediately planted cover crop to help stabilize the soil from further eroding into the river during the rainy winter months. In just a few months the cover crop took root and kept the soil where it belongs. Cover crop is one of the best ways to combat erosion and soil loss, but it also helps to improve the health of the soil by giving it more structure, limiting compaction and providing higher levels of organic material.

Melanie Ruhlman, president of SOS, oversaw the restoration and a few months later, coordinated a volunteer day with TreesUpstate to plant close to 1,000 containerized hardwoods. Over three days, hundreds of volunteers showed up to help plant trees and fortify the existing riparian area. Then in February, Save Our Saluda's 319 grant funded 8,000 bare root hardwoods that were planted throughout the rest of the property. This stretch of the river has undergone tremendous positive changes over the last six months and will serve as an important benchmark for river stewardship for years to come.

We could not have done this work without our tremendous partners. Thank you to the Conservation Bank, Easley Combined Utilities and ReWa for seeing the merit and long term benefits of this work. Thank you to Save Our Saluda and TreesUpstate, this restoration is a true testament of the monumental work we can accomplish together and of course thank you to the many volunteers who came to lend a hand.