PROTECT YOUR

Tuckasegee River Watershed

Learn More

Mission

WATR is a grassroots organization working to improve your water quality and habitat of the Tuckasegee River Basin. The Tuckasegee River watershed supplies the drinking water and ecosystem foundation for Swain and Jackson Counties. What happens upstream, downstream, and all around the watershed impacts all of us directly.

Welcome Watershed Stewards!
Please note: Our website domain address has changed from WatrNC.org to ProtectOurWaters-WNC.org

Explore the Tuckasegee River

Learn more about the Tuckasegee River’s history, culture, geography, climate and more.

The Tuckasegee River rises in the Blue Ridge mountains, in Pisgah National Forest west of Brevard, North Carolina. It flows some 50 miles (80 km) northwest past Cullowhee, Whittier, and Bryson City, near which it empties into Fontana Lake in the Little Tennessee River. Thorpe Dam (1941), on a fork of the Tuckasegee 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Bryson City, impounds Lake Glenville. The river’s name probably comes from that of a Cherokee village, Tsiksitsi (meaning “crawling terrapin,” for the sluggish movement of the waters), that once stood on its banks.

Learn More

Together We Make a Difference

WATR, at it’s heart, is a volunteer organization. We depend on each other to keep informed about problems and to work towards solutions. We are looking for volunteers to assist with Field events and Association Activities.

Get Involved

LATEST WATR NEWS

Stay current with things coming down stream.

Coming Soon

Sign up for the WATR email list

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.