A national river watchdog organization has named the Harpeth River one of the 10 most endangered rivers in the nation.
The Harpeth River is Tennessee’s wild and scenic river that flows through four major Middle Tennessee counties.
It’s 125 miles long, but the five or six miles that flow through Franklin have lead to a lot of conflict.
“These are not rivers that their future is gone and we can’t do anything about it,” said Dorie Bolze with the Harpeth River Watershed Association. “These are the rivers where if the community works together, their future is secure.”
The Harpeth River Watershed Association and American Rivers believe the Harpeth faces two issues: water removal for drinking water and the fear of sending too much treated sewage pollutants into the river.
Nitrogen and phosphorous are the two discharge elements that can destroy a river.
The Harpeth River Watershed Association sued the city of Franklin last year claiming violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
Franklin officials said the list is not based on facts.
“Some of the recommendations they make are exactly what we are doing,” said Eric Stuckey, Franklin city administrator. “Good planning, upgrading of our wastewater plant as it increases in size. We’re going to increase by 33 percent the size of that plant, but we will put no more additional loading in the river than we do today.”