Georgia adopt-a-stream, 2020 April/June

Adopt-A-Stream Newsletter April-June 2020

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April-June 2020

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Confluence 2020 Keynote Speaker
Joe Cook
Georgia River Network Paddle Georgia Coordinator and River User's Guide Author
"Malcolm X, Eugene Talmadge, and Naked Yankees in Georgia Rivers: Tall tales from the shoals, sandbars, and sloughs of the state." August 29th, 2020 Virtual Session
Rivers Alive Special Update
After careful consideration, the Rivers Alive Advisory Board has voted to provide full neck buffs (lightweight material that can be worn as a face-covering) to volunteers this year instead of tshirts. These buffs may serve as a form of personal protective equipment (PPE). At this time, organizers are not able to request the number of buffs for their event on the

April-June 2020 Newsletter at a Glance
The full version of the newsletter is available on the Adopt-A-Stream website.
Microplastics: A Breakdown
Take a moment to picture plastic pollution. What comes to mind? Perhaps it's a bottle washed up on a beach, blemishing the pristine shore. Or a sea turtle consuming a plastic bag thinking it's a jellyfish. These plastic products are detrimental to aquatic life, and can become even deadlier over time. Plastics do not readily break down; instead, they fracture into smaller and smaller pieces. Once they reach a size of 5mm or less, they are considered "microplastics". At this size, plastic pieces can be ingested or inhaled by aquatic organisms, often resulting in numerous negative health effects, such as decreased growth and reproduction rates, hormone disruption, and increased mortality. Luckily, there are groups across the state working to track, research, and mitigate the impacts of microplastics on our waterways.
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Community Partnership Highlight: One Hundred Miles
by Catherine Ridley, Vice President of Education and Communications
Georgia's coast is a wonder of the world. It deserves our pride--and our protection. That's the driving force behind our work at One Hundred Miles (OHM), a coastal advocacy organization founded in 2013 with a mission to preserve and protect Georgia's 100-mile coast through education, advocacy, and citizen engagement. Our team works from Savannah to St. Mary's to the Statehouse in Atlanta to influence decisions that impact coastal Georgia's wildlife and wild places and connect our citizens with opportunities to make their voices heard.
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Cleaner Water Through FOG Prevention
by Mike Kahle, Cobb Watershed Stewardship Environmental Program Supervisor
Though many of us are currently stuck at home and seemingly removed from our local waterways, our at-home habits can still have major negative

https://mailchi.mp/4812f73b8268/adopt-a-stream-newsletter-april-june-2851148?e=b2d12c658b[7/28/2020 10:15:28 AM]

Adopt-A-Stream Newsletter April-June 2020

website; however, they are encouraged to register their event soon, as this increases their chances of receiving buffs and helps us plan for fall cleanups. In case we are unable to completely fill requests, we will provide organizers with options for purchasing additional buffs.
Email Rivers.Alive@dnr.ga.gov if you have any questions. For COVID-19 cleanup guidelines, click here.

impacts on the water quality in our communities. Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) are the by-products of food preparation, cooking, and baking processes. Some sources of FOG include ice cream, cheese, peanut butter, gravy, and salad dressing. When poured down the drain, FOG flows into the sewer collection system, which moves wastewater from homes and businesses to a water reclamation facilities (WRFs). The sewer collection system includes a network of pipes, that lead from the sinks, toilets, showers, tubs and appliances in the home. Anything that goes down a drain enters this sewer collection system.
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Call for AAS Science and News Articles!
We are looking for publications associated with AAS to add to our "Science and News" webpage. If you've written a piece about AAS and/or water quality in Georgia, whether it be a newspaper editorial, annual report, scientific paper, magazine article, newsletter article - you name it, we want to read it!
With your submission, please include a short abstract or summary of your article. We look forward to receiving and reading your articles! To submit articles, or if you have any questions, contact us at AAS@dnr.ga.gov.
New Adopt-AStream Groups
RHMS 5 McAllister HIGH TIDE at 3 m depth
River Runners of Ball Ground
StreamTeam
Clean and Beautiful
Connect With Us!

Community Partnership Highlight: Adopt-A-Wetland
by Luke Roberson, Adopt-A-Wetland Coordinator
UGA Marine Extension and GA Sea Grant's objectives are Research, Education, and Outreach. Adopt-A-Wetland (AAW), a program coordinated by the UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, is working to fulfill these goals by increasing public awareness of issues facing our state's wetlands. Coastal stewardship and monitoring tie our goals together and provide experiential education for students, teachers, and volunteers. Coastal communities need data collection on water quality issues because of their vulnerability to many impacts from climate change and sea level rise. The four main coastal water chemistry parameters dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and salinity are all important indicators of wetland health. AAW's robust volunteer effort acts as a force multiplier to the research done by the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, GA DNR, and many other scientific institutions on the coast.
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Board Member Highlight: Jean Brown, Georgia Power
Jean has always enjoyed spending time outdoors. She grew up in DeKalb County playing in Burnt Fork Creek, which ran through the woods behind her house. In high school, she had the opportunity to take ecology classes at Fernbank Science Center. Her studies there further inspired her decision to pursue a degree in

https://mailchi.mp/4812f73b8268/adopt-a-stream-newsletter-april-june-2851148?e=b2d12c658b[7/28/2020 10:15:28 AM]

Adopt-A-Stream Newsletter April-June 2020

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environmental sciences. Jean is a graduate of University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources with a concentration in Environmental Resource Assessment. Her senior project involved comparing the usefulness and effectiveness of the Environmental Protection Agency's Rapid Bioassessment Protocols, which included extensive work in benthic macroinvertebrate identification.
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Georgia Adopt-A-Stream is a program of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division Outreach Program. The preparation of this newsletter was financed in part through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
under provisions of Section 319(h) of the Federal Clean Water Act of 1987, as amended. Our mailing address is: Georgia Environmental Protection Division 2 MLK Jr. Dr. S.E. Suite 1462 E Atlanta, GA 30334 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
https://mailchi.mp/4812f73b8268/adopt-a-stream-newsletter-april-june-2851148?e=b2d12c658b[7/28/2020 10:15:28 AM]