Adopt-a-stream, Vol. 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2001)

GEORGIA
Adopt-A-Stream

Volume 8, Number 6, November / December 2001 Michele Droszcz and Harold Harbert, Editors

Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division

Are You Permitted To Work on Your Streambank?

If your group is considering a streambank revegetation or stabilization project, you may need one or more permits. The first thing you should do is decide what problem you are trying to address on your stream and what work you plan to do. If you plan to move soil, there are a few things you should do. First, seek technical advice on your project. Next, contact your local Erosion and Sedimentation Law issuing authority to determine if you need a land disturbing permit or stream buffer variance. Finally, contact the Corps of Engineers to find out if you need a 404 permit.

The Erosion and Sedimentation Law (E&S) requires a 25 foot undisturbed vegetative buffer along warm water streams and 50 feet along trout streams. Many counties have ordinances that are more stringent than the State law. Contact your local government engineering or code enforcement office to find out who oversees the E&S program in your county or city. He or she will be able to tell you if you need a permit or variance and may also be able to offer some advice on your project. Under the E&S Law, minor land disturbing activities and landscaping within the buffer do not need a permit. If you are not sure if your activities are minor or major land-disturbing activities, consult the local E&S authority.

Moving soil or altering the streambank or streambed may require a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is used to working with big development projects and consultants, so be clear about the size of your project. Tell them the estimated linear feet of stream you expect to be working on and if you expect to move soil with shovels or machines. If you are just reinforcing the bank and do not plan to move soil, let them know that too. If you need a permit, it will most likely be the Nationwide 27. The Corps number is 1-800-448-2402.

For more information on streambanks, buffer and technical assistance, go to www.gabuffer.org.

Rivers Alive: Making a Lasting Impact

The mission statement for Rivers Alive is, "to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources." This year's cleanup has succeeded in doing just that. With the 2001 event not completely over, an estimated 15,000 individuals have already participated. These individuals volunteered their time to help make a difference cleaning debris from the banks of the Toccoa River, removing garbage from river landings along the Altamaha, shoring up eroded banks on the Chattahoochee through bio-engineering restoration projects, retrieving tires from tributaries in Valdosta, planting over 1,500 trees in the Chattahoochee National Park, conducting all day watershed monitoring events in the Nancy/Peachtree Creek watershed, involving the assistance of scout groups across the State, removing debris from the mouth of the Savannah, Flint and Altamaha, conducting storm drain stenciling activities across the State, and more. Some locations exceeded the call of duty Columbus enlisted the assistance of ALL public school programs to participate in their event. With an estimated 10,000 volunteers, the Columbus event may be the largest in the U.S. All these events, no matter how small or large, succeeded in one crucial area: they helped citizens do their part to preserve and protect our water resources. For more information, including an updated final report, please go to www.riversalive.org.

Environmental Education: Everyone, Everywhere,

Everyday

TEACHERS

For the second year, Georgia Adopt-A-Stream has partnered with the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia, The Georgia Conservancy, Project Learning Tree, Project WET, Project WILD, and the National Wildlife Federation, Georgia GLOBE, Georgia State Parks, Georgia Wildlife Federation and Keep Georgia Beautiful to produce a comprehensive and exciting conference. This year's

Georgia Adopt-A-Stream has several old pH kits and DO reagents. If you want more chemicals for your DO kit or need a pH kit, please contact us. These chemicals and kits are good for educational purposes only.

conference will be held at Unicoi State Park, March 22-24. The

conference will include three days of presentations and workshops covering topics ranging from water to wildlife,

field trips, panel discussions and a volunteer awards banquet. Registration forms will be mailed to you in January.

Call For Presenters

We are looking for individuals to participate in a panel discussion at the March 22-24 conference at Unicoi State Park. The topic of discussion is "Concerned citizens take action to protect and preserve water resources." If you are part of a citizen-based effort to protect your stream, wetland, lake, estuary or watershed and you would like to share your experiences with a large group of environmental educators, please send in a proposal. Send us a page describing your efforts and who will be your group's spokesperson at the conference. All speakers will have to register for the conference.

And The Award Goes To ...

This year's volunteer award categories are:
Adopt-A-Stream in Action: Video or Photography This award will go to the video or photograph that best depicts volunteers working to monitor, protect and educate others about water quality.
Extraordinary Volunteer Watershed Effort If your group is volunteer-based, has formed partnerships with your local government, conducts education outreach, collects quality data consistently and has taken action to enhance your watershed, then this award is for you!
Excellence In Data Collection For a good record of stream's health, data must be collected consistently over several years. This award will be presented to the volunteer who has collected quality assured data consistently over the past several years.

Outstanding Outreach and Partnership Communicating with others about water quality issues and nonpoint source pollution is an important aspect of Adopt-A-Stream. The program or individual who demonstrates an uncanny ability to reach out and work with others will win this award.
Volunteer of the Year Do you know someone who has exhibited an extraordinary aptitude towards assisting with water quality related issue? Tell us about your overachieving volunteer.
Red Flag Award Perseverance, environmental awareness, a keen understanding of water related policy and a desire to act when a problem is detected, these are the traits we are looking for in our Red Flag Award.

Please send proposals and nominations to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, GA 30354. The deadline for panel discussion presenters and award nominations is February 25.

If you are one of the first 20 people to send in a presenter proposal or award nomination, you will receive replacement chemicals for the LaMotte pH test kit.

Adopt-A-Stream Calendar of Events
The following workshops, taught by certified AAS trainers, provide training in visual, biological and chemical monitoring of streams. Please call to register.

What
Chemical Chemical Getting Started w /AAS Chemical

Who
UGA Marine Extension UOWN / Sandy Creek N.C. Upper Etowah River Alliance Upper Etowah River Alliance

When
Dec 5 Jan 19 Jan 19 Jan 26

Where
Tybee 4-H Center Sandy Creek N.C. Canton Canton

To Register
912-598-2388 706-613-3615 770-735-2778 770-735-2778

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

There's more! AAS workshops are conducted throughout the State. Call one of these numbers to learn about upcoming workshops in your region of the State.

Where
Coastal GA West GA Central GA Southwest GA South GA

Who
Dr. Joe Richardson Dr. Becky Champion Beth Hohnadel Dr. William Tietjen Dr. David Hedgepeth

To Register
912-356-2809 706-687-4090 706-444-9820 912-931-2253 912-333-5611

E-mail
richards@tigerpaw.ssu.peachnet.edu champion_becky@colstate.edu ejhohnadel@hotmail.com wlt@canes.gsw.edu dhedgepe@valdosta.edu

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.

News from Coastal Adopt-A-Wetland
By Mary Sweeney-Reeves, UGA, Marine Extension Service
Since September UGA Marine Extension Service has had several groups in the Savannah area interested in monitoring wetlands and beaches. The volunteers are excited about doing their part to monitor water quality at their sites that are on Tybee Island, Skidaway Island, and Wilmington Island. Recent groups who are already certified or soon will be certified include Saint Andrews School, Clean Coast, Tybee Island 4-H Center, Tybee Island Marine Science Center, and Georgia Ports Authority. Since one third of the total area of salt marsh on the east coast is located in Georgia, Adopt-A-Wetland can be a valuable asset for volunteers, communities, and our salt marsh ecosystem. Soon UGA Marine Extension Service will offer a biological component to the Adopt-A-Wetland and Beach monitoring program.
The next chemical training workshop will be on December 5 at the Tybee 4-H Center on Tybee Island. For more information contact Mary Sweeney-Reeves at the Marine Extension Service, 912-598-2388.

$600 Award Available for Qualified AAS Monitoring Group
Trout Unlimited has awarded $600 to fund one new Adopt-A-Stream monitoring program in the Chattahoochee basin. The Trout Unlimited funding is part of a Chattahoochee River Conservation initiative to heighten public awareness on fisheries and water quality issues in Atlanta. To qualify you must conduct your monitoring activities on the Chattahoochee or a tributary of the Chattahoochee between Buford Dam and Peachtree Creek. For more information including an application form, please go to www.riversalive.org/aas.htm and look under Current Events.

Train The Trainer
The Adopt-A-Stream program is dependent on a core group of dedicated individuals who serve as certified trainers of our quality certification quality control (QAQC) workshops. With 71 trainers in Atlanta, Columbus, Augusta, Rome, Savannah, Bainbridge and other locales, it is important that we maintain rigorous quality control practices. All trainers must be QAQC volunteers, participate in an 8-hour Trainer workshop, commit to two workshops in a year, and conduct one co-training with another trainer. In addition, they must be recertified on a yearly basis to maintain their trainer status. If you would like to become a certified trainer of Adopt-A-Stream workshops, please call 404-675-1639.
Community Watershed Workshop
December 4, 2001, 6:00 8:00 p.m.
Topic: Community-based Watershed Protection
Hosts: Peavine Watershed Alliance and DeKalb Parks Department Location: Fernbank Science Center, Classroom 2, 156 Heaton Park Drive, Atlanta Directions: From Downtown, travel East on Ponce De Leon, turn left at Artwood Drive (just before overpass), travel one block, then right on Heaton Park Drive or call 404-508-7603.
The workshops are sponsored by: Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, DeKalb County Parks and Recreation, Peavine Watershed Alliance, City of Atlanta Department of Public Works, Fulton County Adopt-A-Stream, Gwinnett
County Adopt-A-Stream, Clayton County Water Authority and National Wildlife Federation
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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