RiverLink

Land Conservation: In 2023, our Land Program conducted the annual monitoring of our 9 fee- simple properties and now 24 conservation easements including our newest conservation easement with Olivette Riverside Community and Farm. Our program saw a shift in leadership in early 2023, but quickly found its footing as we honed in on the stewardship of three of our fee-simple properties that are or will become publicly accessible parks. One such property named after our founder - Karen Cragnolin Park - opened to the public in August of 2023. This park provides a vital greenway connection that, from its opening in August through December 2023, saw an estimated 133,430 bicycle and pedestrian users. Further, we began development of a part for historically Black Burton Street Community as well as a 2 mile greenway connector to our legacy Gateway Park.

Education: In 2023 our education programs continued to provide free and accessible opportunities for students throughout WNC to connect with their environment. Our in-school programming brought aquatic ecology lessons to 39 different schools, engaging a total of 4,034 students. We also ran 5 weeks of summer camp where we explored the watershed with 60 campers, 20% of which were provided with a full scholarship.

Water Quality: In 2023, our Watershed Resources Program made significant contributions to protect water quality and promote climate resilience in the French Broad River Watershed. We completed construction of the Southside Community Stormwater Project, a green infrastructure project that will benefit water quality in Nasty Branch and the French Broad River, as well as the 2900+ residents of Erskine Apartments, a City of Asheville public housing community. 57 storm drains were adopted by residents of Asheville as part of our Adopt- A-Storm Drain program. In collaboration with the Town of Black Mountain, our WaterRICH program led a half-day workshop for homeowners on how to design and construct a bioswale to prevent stormwater runoff.