Adopt-a-stream, Vol. 10, no. 3 (May/June 2003)

GEORGIA
Adopt-A-Stream

Volume 10, Number 3, May / June 2003 Harold Harbert and Kim Morris-Zarneke, Editors

Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division

Savannah Riverkeeper Initiates Effort to Educate and Involve Citizens
The Savannah Riverkeeper announced today that it will begin a series of training sessions on water quality. Initial training includes the language of water quality advocacy; concepts in water quality restoration, preservation and maintenance; determination of the risk to specific water bodies; and identification of pollution sources in watersheds. Dr. Frank Carl, Executive Director of Savannah Riverkeeper, Inc. says, "This introduction is essentially Water Quality 101. Anyone interested in water quality issues is welcome." The training sessions begin with a general introduction to water quality. State sponsored Adopt-A-Stream trainings, both chemical and biological, will follow. Other trainings include Storm Water Evaluation, NPDES Evaluation, and TMDL Analysis. If you do not know what these acronyms stand for, you will learn that in the first training.
Dr. Carl indicates, "We want to train volunteers who can augment the GA EPD/SC DHEC (two more acronyms that will be defined) efforts to identify water quality problems in the Savannah River basin." Questions or comments should be directed to Frank Carl, Executive Director, Savannah Riverkeeper, at frankcarl@knology.net or 706-364-5253.

Attention All Educators, the Newly Revised AAS Educator Guides Are Here!
After a year of editing, the Adopt-A-Stream Program happily announces the availability of this new resource for educators to bring stream and water quality issues to your classroom and spark your students interests in protecting our precious water resources. Designed for K-12 school and youth groups, this 168 page activity guide takes key messages from Adopt-A-Stream program manuals: Getting to Know Your Watershed, Visual Stream Survey, and Biological and Chemical Stream Monitoring and lays them out in a fun and interactive lesson plan format. Each activity is arranged the same way with a lesson objective, background information, subjects covered and additional resources for the lesson. Each lesson has also been correlated to the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum standards which you can review on the AAS website at http://www.riversalive.org/aas.htm#TEACHER'S%20CORNER.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of this Educator Guide please call Georgia Adopt-A-Stream at (404) 675-1636 or email us at kimberly_morris-zarneke@mail.dnr.state.ga.us.

New Resource for AAS volunteers: A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America
Have you ever gone out and found a bug you could not identify or wish you knew more about it? Well we have a solution for you - A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. This amazing book contains information in non-technical language for 100 of the most common groups of invertebrates found in the inland waters of North America. In addition to providing background information on the biology and ecology of freshwater environments, it has 100 full color illustrations and text pointing out the most important features to use to identify members of the group. The book also contains expanded descriptions of the life histories, behavior, and ecology of the various invertebrate groups, and identifies their important ecological contributions and relationships to humans.
To learn more about this book, go to the McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company website at http://www.mwpubco.com/inverts.htm or call 1-800233-8787 to order a copy.
Tennessee Conducts Research of Three Southeast Water Quality Monitoring Programs
The TN Water Resources Research Center at the University of Tennessee is currently conducting a study comparing three southeastern statewide volunteer monitoring programs, including Georgia Adopt-AStream. The intent is to examine how these programs have been implemented and learn from their experiences so that recommendations can be made of possible approaches to establishing such a program in Tennessee. The program will investigate what volunteers have to say about these programs and will soon be conducting a phone survey. Volunteers will be randomly selected and if your name is chosen, you will receive a letter explaining in more detail what this brief survey will entail. We would greatly appreciate your assistance with this project, as we believe that there could be many benefits for all of us living in the Southeast if Tennessee joins the ranks of those conducting statewide volunteer monitoring programs. We appreciate your consideration in helping us with this endeavor and look forward to having your input!
Free Replacement Reagents For Monitoring Groups
All active monitoring programs can apply for free replacement reagents through a program sponsored by the Environmental Education Alliance. International Paper is providing funding for the monitoring equipment. Please download an application at www.riversalive.org/aas.htm or call 404-675-1636.
Looking for an SDU Credit? Look no further, GA Adopt-A-Stream offers 1 SDU Credit to
Teachers who participate in and complete all three Adopt-A-Stream Workshops: Getting Started with Adopt-A-Stream, Biological Monitoring and Chemical Monitoring. The Georgia Educational Technology Training Center at Fort Discovery (ETTC) is our approved SDU provider and issues the SDU credit for certified teachers in Georgia who participate in the workshops. For more information about SDU credits or obtain forms go to www.riversalive.org/aas.htm#TEACHER'S%20CORNER or call (404) 675-1636.

Adopt-A-Stream Calendar of Events
The following workshops, taught by certified AAS trainers, provide training in visual, biological and chemical monitoring of streams. Teachers may receive 1 SDU credit for participating please go to the AAS website under Teacher Corner for more details. Please call to register for a workshop.

What
Intro to AAS Intro, Bio & Chem Chemical Chemical Intro & Chemical Biological Biological Biological Intro & Chemical Getting Started w/ AAS Bio & Chem Getting Started w/ AAS Chemical Biological

Who
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Cobb County Adopt-A-Stream Rome Adopt-A-Stream Fort Discovery Fort Discovery Upper Etowah Adopt-A-Stream Cobb County Adopt-A-Stream Coweta County AAS Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Clayton County AAS Upper Etowah River AAS Coweta County AAS

When
TBA May 10 May 17 May 20 May 24 May 31 May 31 June 21 June 28 July 11 July 12 July 12 July 19 July 19

Where
Coffee Co. Brantley Co. Cobb County Rome Richmond Co. Richmond Co. TBA Cobb County Newnan Habersham Co. Habersham Co. Clayton Co. TBA Newnan

To Register
404-675-1639 404-675-1639 770-528-1480 706-236-4674 706-821-0632 706-821-0632 678-640-2563 770-528-1480 404-675-1636 404-675-1636 404-675-1636 678-422-2838 770-735-2778 404-675-1639

NOTE: Workshop times vary. Please call to get exact times and locations. Workshop information is updated weekly on our website at www.riversalive.org/aas.htm

QA/QC Recertification: All QA/QC volunteers must renew certification on a yearly basis. This can be accomplished by participating in the second half of our regular chemical or biological workshop. To register, please contact one of our scheduled workshops.
Get Wet in the Coosa River Basin
Rome Adopt-A-Stream is sponsoring a big trash cleanup on the Coosa River on May 6-10. Citizens are welcome to come join in the effort and bring their own boat if they have one. Dumpsters will be provided as well as labor to unload the boats. This cleanup is part of a larger effort to clean Coosa River from Rome to the Alabama/Georgia border. Contact Eric Lindberg for more information, 706-236-4674. Also, on Saturday May 17, Coosa River Basin Initiative will be hosting its annual Canoe-A-Thon and Canoe Race. Come join CRBI on the rivers for a fun day of paddling and outdoor enjoyment. For more information and directions, contact Emily Goodwin at (706) 232-2724 or egoodwin@coosa.org.

Southwest Georgia will be holding their second Community Watershed Awareness meeting on
June 12 at 6 PM in Camilla. This meeting will provide a venue for sharing information and networking with others interested in clean water. Please contact person Alex MacDonald at 229-522-3552 or Emily Perry at 229-333-5277.

Lake Allatoona Awareness Event will be on May 17, 10 AM to 2 PM, at the Educational
Outreach Center Kellogg Creek Road in Acworth. For more information contact Ginger Rayburn of the Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority, 678-801-4012 or ginger.rayburn@allatoona.org.

The next Community Watershed Network meeting will be on June 5, from 6:00-8:00 pm at the
Civic Center on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. The subject is Community Watershed Networking and Successes. Sponsors include Peavine Watershed Alliance, National Wildlife Federation and Georgia Adopt-A-Stream. For updated information please click on Community Watershed Network at www.riversalive.org/aas.htm.
Improving Science Education through School Yard Ecology, June 16-27, 2003

The Oxford Institute for Environmental Education is sponsoring a weeklong training session designed to help teachers regardless of background or grade level -- develop their own teaching plans using their school yards for scientific investigation. For ten days in the summer, participating teachers learn the basic principles of ecology in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, how to apply this knowledge to lesson plans, and how to develop their school yards for environmental education. Contact Steve Baker at 770784-8397 or go to www.emory.edu/OXFORD/Academics/oiee for details and an application form.
Rivers Alive 2003 is just around the corner...... Held
throughout the month of October, Rivers Alive is organized by the Georgia AdoptA-Stream Program and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Program in conjunction with Help The Hooch in Columbus. Last year, 16,700 volunteers collected over 300,000 pounds of garbage and cleaned over 780 miles of waterways. Please consider organizing in a Rivers Alive cleanup event in 2003. Check out the Rivers Alive website at www.riversalive.org for more information or contact Kim Morris-Zarneke, Georgia Adopt-AStream at 404-675-1636 or kimberly_morris-zarneke@mail.dnr.state.ga.us.
The Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, the City of Roswell, and volunteers of Rivers Alive are
organizing a summertime event, "Back to the Chattahoochee Races and Festival," on the river
in Roswell on Saturday, June 7, 2003. Canoe and kayak races will begin at 9:00 a.m. at Garrard's Landing and end up at Riverside Park. To increase awareness about this great natural resource, there will be an environmental festival from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. for racers and the general public. This festival will include educational activities, information booths, food, fun, and a blue grass band "Dixie Grass." To learn more call 404-352-9828 ext. 14 or go to www.chattahoochee.org/main/canoe.shtml.
The Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Newsletter is published six times per year. For more information about the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program or to contribute to the newsletter, call or write to:
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Environmental Protection Division 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101 Atlanta, GA 30354 (404) 675-1639 www.riversalive.org/aas.htm
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