Adopt-a-stream, Vol. 14, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2007)

GEORGIA
Adopt-A-Stream
Volume 14, Number 6, November / December 2007 Allison Hughes, Anne Prusak Editors

Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division

On September 28, 2007, Dr. Carol Couch, Director of the Environmental Protection Division declared a level four drought response for the northern third of Georgia and a continued level two drought for the rest of the State. Drought is defined as an extended period of drier than normal conditions that result in adverse impacts on people, animals, and vegetation. The severity of drought is determined through examining stream flows, lake levels, soil moisture levels, and rainfall in the last 90 days along with many other factors. "All of the counties included in the level four drought declaration are located in areas of either exceptional or extreme drought", said Dr. Couch.
Many of you may be experiencing the effects of the drought through seeing historically low water levels in your adopted water body. In a recent workshop at Red Top Mountain State Park on Lake Allatoona, we were unable to find flowing water in streams that are normally flowing during that time of the year. If you are monitoring a stream that is experiencing low or no flow, it is important that you still report this data to us, so that we have baseline data for your site.
You can help reduce your water usage by conserving water at home. Conserving water helps ensure that we have a sufficient supply of safe drinking water now and in the future. Here are a few things that you can do to help conserve water:
Fix leaky sinks and toilets research shows that almost 8% of household water is wasted through leaks. To determine if you have a leaky toilet, drop a few drops of food coloring in the storage tank of your toilet. Wait a few minutes and see if any of the food coloring has made its way into the toilet bowl. If so, you have a leak.
Design your landscape with drought tolerant native plants Once established, native plants need less water and will usually survive during long periods of dry weather. Visit gnps.org for more information about native plants.
Be smart with your water use Think of things like turning the water off while you wash your hands or brush your teeth, only washing full load of clothes and dishes, and never pour water down the drain when it can be used for another purpose. Simply stated, use water wisely.
For the most up to date information and more ways you can help, please visit www.ConserveWaterGeorgia.net.

It's time for our annual awards, so please consider nominating a person or group for one of the six awards listed below. The nomination process is simple; just send Georgia Adopt-A-Stream a short essay explaining why your nominee deserves the award. Remember to include the name of the person or group and the name of the award. The deadline is Monday, January 7th.
Volunteer of the Year This goes to the individual who has gone beyond the call of duty to protect Georgia's waterways and to support the Adopt-A-Steam mission, giving their time and energy to improve our waterways.
Extraordinary Volunteer Watershed Effort Protection of our streams starts with the protection of our watersheds. Help us recognize the group that has accomplished the most to blur political boundaries and confront local issues by working in the watershed.
Red Flag Award Perseverance, environmental awareness, a keen understanding of water policy, and a desire to act when a problem is detected are the traits we are looking for in our Red Flag Award.
Outstanding Outreach and Partnership The first step in conservation is awareness. And awareness only happens through effective outreach efforts and partnerships. Nominate a group or person that has demonstrated skill in effectively organizing and educating others.
Adopt-A-Stream in Action: Video or Photography A photograph is worth a thousand words. Often times a photograph is all that's needed to identify a problem. Send us your exceptional images and a short justification.
Excellence In Data Collection Volunteer monitoring data can make a difference, but only if it's collected consistently and under a QA/QC plan. Nominate an individual or group who has consistently collected quality data.
Award nominations can be mailed to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, GA 30354 or emailed to allison.hughes@dnr.state.ga.us
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Again this year, Georgia Adopt-A-Stream will be organizing the presentations for the "Beyond The Basics: Working to Protect Your Watershed" track for the Georgia River Network Conference. The conference, to be held at Berry College, February 22-23, will feature two all-day workshops on Friday, three informative tracks on Saturday, and the annual Awards Banquet and River Jam. For more information including the agenda and registration materials, please visit the Georgia River Network webpage at www.garivers.org.

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Thank you to all of the Rivers Alive organizers and Advisory Board members for making Rivers Alive 2007 a success. It is estimated from cleanup event registrations that Rivers Alive will see a 20% increase in cleanup events, volunteer participation, miles cleaned, and total garbage removed from our rivers, lakes, streams, and coastline. In order to completely understand the success of Rivers Alive, we need to know the success you have had this year. If you have not reported your data yet, you may submit it either by phone at 404-362-6536, fax at 404-675-6245, or on the website at http://riversalive.com/FinalTallyForm07.htm. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to your involvement next year!

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The Youth Environmental Symposium (YES) is a statewide competition of student-led environmental projects. The goal of YES is to develop knowledgeable, dedicated, and interested students who are more aware of environmental issues. In the process, they have an opportunity to learn how they can make a difference in maintaining a natural balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment in their schools and communities.
Last year, the Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta placed second with their Adopt-A-Stream project to test water quality in Long Island Creek adjacent to their school. The students were awarded $1,000 to support their monitoring program.
We encourage middle and high school Adopt-A-Stream programs to participate in the 2008 Youth Environmental Symposium. Cash prizes of $2,000, $1,000 and $500 will be awarded to the most outstanding projects. The deadline for entry is January 23, 2008. The symposium will be held at Zoo Atlanta on Friday, February 29, 2008. YES will provide all finalist groups with transportation costs, meals and a substitute teacher for the day. For details please visit www.georgiaconservancy.com.

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Environmental Education Alliance 2008 Annual Conference: "Trends, Tricks and Traditions in Environmental Education"
March 14-16, 2008 Unicoi State Park For more information visit www.eealliance.org

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Workshops are taught by certified AAS instructors and provide stream monitoring training. Teachers may receive 1 PLU credit for participating. Please visit the AAS website under the Teacher Corner heading for more details. Please call to register.

What
December Intro/Bio/Chem Chemical Intro/Visual Chem/Bio Recert Biological January Chemical Chemical

Who

When

Savannah Riverkeeper Friends of Sweetwater Creek Park Columbia County AAS Ogeechee-Canoochee Gwinnett County AAS

Nov. 30-Dec. 1 Dec. 1 Dec. 1 Dec. 13 Dec. 15

Columbia County AAS Randolph County

Jan. 5 Jan. 29

Where
Rabun County Douglas County Columbia County Statesboro Buford
Columbia County Randolph County

To Register
706.364.5253 404.675.1635 706.868.0296 912.764.2017 770.904.3505
706.868.0296 404.675.1635

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

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) 675-1640 www.GeorgiaAdoptAStream.org
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