GEORGIA Adopt-A-Stream Volume 20, Number 3 May/June 2013 Tara Muenz, Editor Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division Happy 20th Birthday Georgia Adopt-A-Stream! By Harold Harbert, EPD Outreach Program Manager I t's hard to believe that Georgia Adopt-A-Stream is 20 years old. Or is it actually older? The birth of volunteer monitoring in Georgia is at best a little hazy, with many key figures contributing a little something to its creation, and with citizens, private and government agencies all playing a role. By and large though, the initiation of the Adopt-A-Stream program began with Georgia Environmental Protection Divison's (EPD) hire of Laurie Hawks in 1992. The list of accomplishments for the early program is impressive: formation of the advisory board, creation of the quality assurance project plan, the visual, chemical and biological manuals and corresponding QA/QC workshops, the train-the-trainer program, an annual conference, a bi-monthly newsletter, a promotional video for the program and the Adopt-A- Stream logo. Since the program's inception, many state coordinators have contributed tremendously to our success, each adding a little something to strengthen and expand volunteer monitoring in Georgia. And, each has recognized a common theme: Georgia Adopt-A-Stream is only as strong as our partners. Partners of the program have come in many shapes and forms, but they all share a common passion for protecting our most valuable resource: water. Working for county or city governments, watershed organizations, not-for-profit groups or for themselves, local leaders not only conduct water monitoring workshops, they play an important role in guiding the development of the statewide program. These partners help with creating new monitoring methods, updating resources, assisting with our conference and most importantly, being a resource for citizens. Simply put, we could not be successful without their support. If the state and local leaders are proud of their accomplishments, it can only be due to the incredible support Georgia citizens have provided. Just look at the numbers: in the past year volunteers monitored 487 sites, recording 16,633 data points. Over the last 20 years, more than 18,000 volunteers have participated in the monitoring program, conducting 20,248 monitoring events at 1,315 sites, totaling 107,715 data points. In monetary terms, the Independent Sector estimates the value of Georgia volunteers to be in excess of 3.5 million dollars. While the monitoring numbers are impressive, the true value of the program may best be quantified in the number of citizens engaged in watershed protection activities, helping to identify sewage leaks, erosion issues and stormwater runoff impacts. Through this process of engagement, citizens become invested in the health of their watershed. Twenty years ago, Georgia EPD took a chance on starting a program that engaged citizens in learning about, monitoring and protecting our watersheds. It was a pretty radical idea at the time, and still is when you consider that Georgia might be the only state in the nation with a volunteer monitoring program housed in the state's regulatory agency. For EPD, housing the Adopt-A-Stream program makes sense; Education and outreach are components of the regulatory permitting process, thus there is a logical connection between citizen monitoring and EPD. Those early pioneers of Georgia's volunteer water monitoring program may not have been fully aware of what they were creating, but their efforts sowed the seed for a very successful program, on many different levels. (Continued on the last page.) Georgia Adopt- 199 1980's 1993 Stream Watch Trout Unlimited developed a procedure for observing and reporting water quality in Georgia and especially sediment problems. They called it `stream watch.' Late 1980's GA AAS Hires First State Coordinator Laurie Hawks Goals established, 300 volunteers active, 9 community programs initiated, and first rough drafts of manuals! 1994 First AAS Volunteer Awards Given First AAS Conference Held at Kennesaw Beginning ideas of a state `stream watch' program 1997 drifted through the halls of EPD=seed planted! Freshwater Wetland Monitoring Program & Ma 1970's AAS Advisory Board Formed Created Eve Brantley (formerly EPD Co-op Partnership with Trout Unlimited Other local citizen Monitoring programs emerge in Georgia Funderburk) Joins the Team as a State Coordinator Began to sample streams in North Georgia 1991-1993 Teacher's Guide Created & First Newsletter Published 200 1996 1990 Gwinnett County Forms their Own AAS Program 1990 Ted Mikalsen First Manuals are Official! Biological & Chemical Getting Started 1998 Visual Michele Drostin (forme 1995 Harold Harbert B State Coordin Ted Mikalsen of EPD Water Protection Branch submits a grant proposal for a state `stream watch' program which gets approved! EPD contracts with ATL Regional Planning Commission to guide this effort including hiring a state coordinator, creating a program based on elements of a statewide `stream watch' program, GA Clean and Beautiful, Adopt-A-Highway, and Project WILD programs, as well as partnering with local governments and organizations. EPD applies for another grant to implement these ideas and was awarded! Michele & Harold Significa Number of Community Coordin -A-Stream History 93-2013 2006 5,000 Volunteers Reached! Sally Mason Hired as State Coordinator 2001 anual Coastal Adopt-AWetland Program is Born! 2007 $1,000,000 Of In-kind Service to 300 & the State of Georgia AAS by AAS Volunteer GROUPS! Monitoring & Outreach Efforts 2013 600 100,000 Data Points Reached! Over 70 Local AAS AAS Programs & 2009 GROUPS Trainers Active 50,000 Data Points Reached! Allison Hughes Returns for Round Two! Tara Muenz Joins as State Coordinator Database & Website Merge 29,000+ Monitoring Certifications More Great Programmatic Updates to Come! More Manuals! Watershed Visual (revised) 00 8 erly Droszcz) & Become nators antly Expanded the nators in the Program AAS Incorporates Amphibian Monitoring Educator's Guide Created (revised teacher's guide) Allison Hughes Joins AAS as State Coordinator 2005 Bacterial Monitoring Manual Created Kim Morris-Zarneke Hired as State Coordinator 2002 800 SITES ADOPTED! 10,000 Volunteers Reached! $2,000,000 Of In-kind Service to the State of GA New AAS Online Database Created 500 SITES ADOPTED! 2008 GO BLUE! E-newsletter Created 2010 Thank you volunteers & partners, we are so grateful for your service to Georgia's waterways! Volume 20, Number 3 May/June 2013 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 404.675.6240 www.GeorgiaAdoptAStream.org GO BLUE in 2013 by signing up for our e-newsletter & receive all the same news while saving our natural resources. Sign up by emailing us at aas@gaepd.org. Dragonfly Riffle Beetle Dobsonfly Stonefly Net Spinning Caddisfly Happy 20th Birthday Georgia Adopt-A-Stream! Cont'd A s we look back at all those who contributed to the stream monitoring program in Georgia, it's important to understand the key role they all played in creating a foundation for our success. In the last few years, Georgia's volunteer monitoring program has experienced so much expansion, seemingly growing in leaps and bounds every year. With continued strong support from the state and federal government, our outstanding local community partners, and of course, the hard work of our dedicated volunteers, there's every reason to believe that the best of volunteer monitoring in Georgia has only just begun. Keep up the good work and thank you for your help in making us who we are today! Laurie Hawks 1993-1997 Eve Brantley 1996-1998 Michele Drostin 1998-2001 Harold Harbert 1998-2005 Sally Mason 2006-2007 Kim MorrisZarneke 2002-2005 Allison Hughes 2005-2008 & 2009-2013 Tara Muenz 2009-present Georgia Adopt-A-Stream's State Coordinators Over the Years Please visit our calendar on www.GeorgiaAdoptAStream.org for upcoming monitoring workshops and Adopt-A-Stream events.