Rivers Future Everyones Concern The Charleston Gazette 2 August 2005
The Charleston Gazette
2 August 2005
By Edward Peeks
On my way to start work with the Gazette in the early '60s, a Washington friend told me: "If Charleston were in Europe, it would be a tourist attraction; the river runs right through downtown."
Maybe it hasn't attracted tourists, but the Kanawha has attracted business and industry through the ages. It beckoned the chemical industry before World War I, and during the Second World War it backed up the boast: "The Kanawha Valley, the Chemical Center of the World."
The river still supplies water for heating and cooling the wheels of several industries. All the while, it serves as an irreplaceable artery of transportation - and the scene of recreation and pleasure.
It plays an indispensable role in the life of the city and region, making its future practically everybody's concern.
Sections of the riverbank show signs of falling to pieces, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Meanwhile, talk goes on in Charleston about making better recreational and commercial use of the riverfront.
I don't think either concern can escape the attention and interest of most residents, young or old, high or low, black or white.
During the years I lived on Kanawha Boulevard, I saw close up the boating and barge activity that takes place on the river. On the riverbank I saw joggers and strollers, loafers and lovers. My view offered a window on the river that reflected the observations of my Washington friend.
For that and more besides, the riverbank must be first restored to save, perhaps, the river itself from stagnation and possibly a slow death. The threat appears just as real as the chemical pollution that stopped Kanawha fishing in the 1970s.
The pollution problem created public outrage. Federal and state regulators cracked down, and eventually, for some species, it became safe to eat the catch from the river.
The riverbank problem can be fixed at an estimated cost of $6 million with new riprap, engineers say. Federal funds are expected to cover $4 million of the sum.
Moreover, the city of Charleston might get by at the cost of only 5 percent in cash for matching money and by making up the rest in labor and other in-kind contributions.
Plans for riverfront improvements can in no way overshadow riverbank improvements. For without banks, there will be no front on which to build or improve anything.
The Kanawha, like many another, defies the old saying that business and pleasure don't mix. It has been mixing the two for eons as an artery of the nation's vital waterways.
From the mouth formed at the convergence of the New and Gauley rivers in Fayette County, the Kanawha flows through the capital city and joins the Ohio River downstream at Point Pleasant.
The Ohio flows on into the Mississippi, known as the mother of rivers. It has a spunky and smart offspring in the Kanawha, which needs layers of riprap to fix its banks for continuing life and service.
Peeks is a former Gazette business/labor editor.