GEORGIA Adopt-A-Stream Volume 15, Number 1, January / February 2008 Allison Hughes and Cristina Gonzalez-Maddux, Editors Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division Happy New Year! This has been a very productive year for Adopt-AStream. Together with our partners we have designed a new on-line database system, continued to develop new Adopt-A-Stream programs throughout the state and look to grow into the future with two new monitoring programs. General Update This year was very successful for Adopt-A-Stream trainers. During 2007, the State office certified 107 trainers in chemical and biological monitoring and we now have 56 community coordinators to assist you with local water quality issues, lead monitoring workshops and serve as a local partner. With the assistance of these trainers, Georgia Adopt-AStream offered 190 workshops across the State. During these workshops, 1,507 Georgia citizens received Quality Assured Quality Control Certification (QA/QC). In addition, our volunteers registered 66 new groups who have adopted 138 monitoring sites. This shows that the Adopt-A-Stream program continues to thrive and educate more citizens each year. The Adopt-A-Stream newsletter, published six times per year, is now delivered to over 4,850 homes, schools and nature centers. Our website continues to provide up-to-date information for volunteers and one of the most used features is our new on-line calendar of workshops. Adopt-A-Stream's newsletter and website allow us to reach more people than ever before. DeKalb County Adopt-A-Stream Trainer demonstrates the dissolved oxygen test with Tucker High School students Adopt-A-Stream Database Goes On-line This year, Adopt-A-Stream has worked hard to develop a new on-line database for volunteers. This undertaking has included transferring nearly ten years of Adopt-A-Stream data into a new on-line format. We are very excited about the capabilities of viewing and analyzing volunteer water quality data for the State of Georgia. Using the new on-line database, volunteers will be able to enter and view their monitoring data, view data from other groups, as well as download and analyze data using many preset functions. We are currently wrapping up the first phase of the database and will be allowing volunteer access to the database in the next month. We will announce the official launch of the new database in our next newsletter. Adopt-A-Stream Flows Into New Areas of the State As citizens become more aware of the importance of clean water, they are more inspired to be proactive in the protection of this vital natural resource. We have worked to plant a seed of change through the development of several new partnerships. New programs have sprouted up in Gordon, Murray, Randolph and Paulding Counties as well as in Valdosta. The Friends of Sweetwater Creek State Park and Tallulah Gorge State Park have also started a monitoring program within their respective watersheds. We welcome all of our new groups to the Adopt-A-Stream program! Adopt-A-Stream Bacteria Monitoring Program In response to the desires expressed by our volunteers to collect much needed bacteria data for Georgia's waterways, Adopt-A-Stream is developing a volunteer bacteria monitoring program. Based on the mulitstate Citizens Monitoring Bacteria Project, the Adopt-A-Stream bacteria monitoring program will provide training and resources for volunteers to test for Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in their waterways. With this new monitoring program, volunteers can collect bacteria data using inexpensive, reliable and easy to use equipment. This program will be launched in mid-2008. Adopt-A-Stream Partners With UGA In recent years, Adopt-A-Stream volunteers have requested access to advanced water 3M Petrifilm used to test for quality parameters that are usually performed in water quality laboratories. In order E. Coli bacteria to meet the needs of our volunteers, Adopt-A-Stream cultivated a partnership with the University of Georgia's Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory to further advance our monitoring capabilities. Through this partnership, volunteers can send water samples to the lab for advanced tests such as a metal scan, Fecal coliform, and Chlorophyll A. All Adopt-A-Stream registered groups will receive a discount on the cost of lab analysis. This program will also be launched in mid-2008. !! " The Adopt-A-Stream program relies heavily on our certified trainers who lead workshops from the North Georgia mountain streams to the coastal estuaries. Our trainers led 190 workshops and trained over 1,500 QA/QC volunteer monitors during 2007. We would like to thank our active trainers who led at least one workshop: Laura Aikens Beth Ball Angela Bliss Frank Carl Azarina Carmical Judith Cocus Patti Cook Duncan Cottrell Ellie Covington Vicki Culbreth Louis Dykes Ruth Eilers Greg Eilers Lori Forrester Scarlett Fuller Mary Gazaway Larry Golsen Cristina Gonzalez-Maddux John Graham Laurene Hall Harold Harbert Tammy Heiselmeyer Melanie Hendrix Allison Hughes Becky Jones Chris Kodani John Kominoski Sam Linhart Jennifer McCoy Ruth Mead Susan Meyers Kate Mobray Katie Owens Robert Phillips Terry Porter Brenda Rashleigh Joe Richardson Melissa Rottenberg Mary Carol Sheffield Kevin Smith Jean Smith Sharon Smith Cynthia Taylor William Tietjen Carrie Toth Kelly Voss David Wenner Dianna Wedincamp Brian Wiley Kyla Zaro-Moore If you are interested in becoming a certified Adopt-A-Stream Trainer, please contact Allison Hughes at Allison.Hughes@dnr.state.ga.us or 404.675.1635. Year in Review Rivers Alive 2007 was a great success! Thanks to the combined efforts of our volunteers and organizers, we were able to make a major impact on our local waterways. We had over 150 groups composed of over 25,000 volunteers who cleaned over 2,300 miles of waterways! These volunteers were able to remove approximately 750,000 pounds of garbage and more than 2,650 discarded tires from Georgia's waterways. Just to put that into perspective, 750,000 pounds of garbage is enough to fill 21 tandem dump trucks at 15 tons per truck! And with all those tires, you could furnish the tires for over 660 cars! If those tires had been recycled properly and their rubber had been recaptured, the tires could have been used for a number of applications including asphalt alternative and consumer products. Thanks to the well over 75,000 hours contributed by our volunteers, we were able to improve the quality and health of our wildlife and recreation areas. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits of garbage removal, these clean-ups help protect the habitat for Georgia's thousands of aquatic species. So, thank you all for your hard work and dedication! Your individual contributions have combined to make a very significant difference. Rivers Alive Awards Ceremony and Luncheon Our organizers are crucial to the clean-up efforts. Their work behind the Wheeler County 4-H cleanup on the Oconee River scenes is tireless and deserves recognition. In an effort to celebrate our fantastic organizers, we will be hosting our annual awards ceremony on April 16th. At the ceremony, we will be presenting the 2007 Outstanding Waterway Cleanup and Outstanding Leadership Awards. If you know of an organization or organizer that deserves special recognition for their contributions, please contact Cristina Gonzalez of the Rivers Alive crew to submit a nomination. Thanks again for another successful year and for helping Rivers Alive realize its mission of "Clean Water from the Mountains to the Sea!" ! ! "# $% & The following workshops, taught by certified AAS trainers, provide training in visual, biological and chemical monitoring. Teachers may receive 1 PLU credit for participating please go to the AAS website under Teacher Corner for more details. Please call to register for a workshop. What March Chemical Chemical Chemical/Biological Intro/Visual April Biological Chemical Biological May Chemical Intro/Chem/Bio Who Coastal Adopt-A-Wetland DeKalb County AAS Coastal Adopt-A-Wetland Georgia Wildlife Federation Cobb County AAS Georgia Wildlife Federation Georgia Wildlife Federation Fulton County AAS White County- Helen AAS When Where March 13 March 22 March 29 March 29 Skidaway Island Atlanta Brunswick Covington April 5 April 5 April 12 Marietta Covington Covington May 3 Roswell May 30-31 Helen To Register 912.598.2348 404.660.7511 912.598.2348 770.787.7887 770.528.1482 770.787.7887 770.787.7887 404.612.8006 706.878.3087 View our website at www.GeorgiaAdoptAStream.org for the most up to date information. 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. ' (# ) River Network's River Rally May 2-5 www.rivernetwork.org Huron, OH 2008 National Water Quality Monitoring Conference May 18 22 www.wef.org Atlantic City, New Jersey Cool Waters Teacher Workshop June 3-5 www.gawp.org Johns Creek, GA River to Reefs Teacher Workshop June 8-13 or June 22-27 Application Deadline: April 15 In this FREE workshop, participants follow the course of the Altamaha Watershed from its headwaters to Gray's Reef. Contact Kim Morris-Zarneke at kzarneke@georgiaaquarium.org for more information. Paddle Georgia June 21-27 www.garivers.org 706.549.4508 Come join us for an adventure on the Flint River. Teacher scholarships available, call GRN for details. 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) 675-1635 or 1639 www.GeorgiaAdoptAStream.org Printed on recycled paper