Rivers Alive

As the weather cools down and fall bestows upon us that beautiful scenery of changing leaves, it is easy to get swept away with all of the fun activities that fall has to offer. Whether it be a carnival with tons of fun games, a tailgate cheering on your favorite team, or just spending some time outside; fall is the number one season.

When I think about my perfect autumn day, I imagine myself with a pumpkin spiced latte in hand (in reusable coffee mug of course), my favorite pair of chacos on my feet, a fleece to keep me warm, thousands of trees all around me, a river flowing freely with the sounds of birds echoing in the distance, and beautiful bright colors illuminating the tops of the trees. Without a doubt, I would not include a pile of trash in this picture.

If you feel this same way, let me introduce you to the 21st Annual Rivers Alive Clean Up Event on October 6th, 2012. This is an incredible opportunity to get yourself immersed (literally) with protecting our local water ways!
Some background information on Rivers Alive:

• It is s a state-wide campaign to help protect over 70,000 miles of Georgia's rivers and streams
• There are over 200 clean up crews across the state that will be beautifying their rivers and streams on this same day
• The program started in the early 1990's with a mission to protect and clean up major river systems in the state of Georgia with the help of local volunteers

As you can see here, this objective is no easy feat. With 70,000 miles of Georgia rivers and streams to protect, I think even Superman would have some trouble. As a community, it is imperative that we come together and take a few hours out of our weekend to participate in this worthy effort. Just to reinstate something I am sure you all are already well aware of, water is everywhere and in almost everything! Whether it is in your glass, in your shower, cleaning your dishes, in your pool, or in your food you need clean water.
Now that I have convinced you to join us on October 6th (or at least that is the hope) here are some details on the event!

When: Saturday October 6, 2012 from 9:00 AM- 1:00 PM
Where:  Dudley Park on the corner of MLK Parkway and East Broadstreet
Schedule: 8:00am-9:00am - Volunteer Check-in at Dudley Park (FREE T-SHIRT! Coffee, juice and snacks will be available)
9:00am-12:00pm - Clean-up projects
12:00pm-1pm - Prizes, lunch, and music!
What to Bring: Volunteers should bring a reusable water bottle and gloves, and wear long pants and closed toed shoes. Lunch and entertainment will be provided after the cleanup.
How to Register: Register online at  http://volunteer.truist.com/hng/user/events/one.tcl?event_id=10539544386 or call 706-353-1313 ext231

Bring the family, friends, spouses, third cousins whoever! Come be a part of protecting our water systems and make that perfect autumn day your reality!

-Nicole, WCO Intern

Droughty Business

An article in the LA Times came out Sunday, and this article is really important: it's about Georgia water!

Our own Marilyn Hall spent some time with reporter Neela Banerjee, author of the article, discussing our drought situation and what we're trying to do about it.  She's not cited, but the two of them tossed around thoughts of how the situation in Georgia got where it is today, and what some places are trying to do about it.

Drought is a very touchy subject, and there are as many takes on it as there are people that think about it.  Such is the nature of these topics.  We--Georgia--have spent the last 13 years in and out of drought, so around here, it's touchy and yet very common subject of conversation.  Some places, like Athens, have pretty stellar water conservation habits: we're using around 20 gallons per day LESS than the average American.  However, not all cities are so lucky.

Banerjee discussed the Flint River (the river I grew up on), which runs from middle west Georgia all the way down to Lake Seminole, in the southwest corner of the state.  Right now it's very, very low.  Down there, the primary economic supports are cotton, peanuts, and peaches, all of which require steady irrigation.  It's hard to irrigate your livelihood if the river is empty.  So, to us south Georgians, water is very important.

The thing is, it's important everywhere.  The Georgia drought isn't just in the south. It's affecting water levels everywhere.  It's more apparent down south, because of "trickle down:" water used up north sometimes doesn't make it down south.  As Banerjee reported in the article, some hydrologists are concerned that unwise water use in the northern parts of Georgia is contributing to the drying rivers in the south.  It depends on who you talk to...but to me it makes sense: water flows from north to south (generally) so if the water in the north is removed...the south doesn't get it.

Anyways, the real issue Banerjee discussed is the shift in the government's role.  Perdue made some pretty tough watering restrictions while he was in office; I remember there being an uproar even in our fairly rural city, because we couldn't water our lawns, or wash our cars.  Deal, however, has not imposed those particular regulations.  Depending on who you are and what you believe, your opinions on that will vary from pleased to confused to outraged.

However, as mentioned in the article, Deal has proposed new reservoirs (manmade lakes) for the metro Atlanta area.  This proposal is also controversial.  And not in the works yet. It appears to still be in the brainstorming phase--disclaimer: that is not a comment about how I feel, just my understanding of the situation.  Creating reservoirs is tricky business: it can involve damming rivers to reroute the water.  Of course, there is much opposition to the prospect of damming rivers, which I'm betting is part of why these reservoirs are still in the early stages.

Without meaning to get into too much of a political debate, this is a summation of Neela Banerjee's LA Times article, and a short, short discussion on Georgia's water situation.

What's the bottom line?  Regardless of what is happening in the Capitol, there are things you can do to make the drought seem a little more manageable:
 
We are still experiencing a drought, so conserve water.  Think about evaporation losses.  Think about water lost to wasting.  Think about just how long you need to shower, or how many times you need to wash your car.

Think at the sink.

Festival Success!

I'm going to break up the monotony a little and give you a Picture Blog this week!  I'll spend less time talking and more time sharing adorable pictures with you.
The Athens Water Festival went off without a hitch last weekend: everyone had a good time, and our local water (rain) even showed up at the end!
We had a ton of fun games for the festival-goers to play.  Kids and adults all seemed to enjoy them!

We had:

H2Olympics! A game about water's cohesive properties and surface tension: this guy is counting how many drops of water will balance on a penny!

 A pollution game: kids had to remove trash from their "ponds" so the water would be clean and safe!

A water truck from the fire station, so kids could see what it's like and see how it uses water! (I mean, who doesn't love playing in a fire truck??)

A macro-invertebrate station where kids could find and learn how to identify water bugs!

Testing water quality with Adopt-A-Stream.

We had some awesome animals (that need water, of course) from Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources!  The school ambassadors came to talk about how these animals use water.

Fats, Oils, and Greases, Oh My!  Kids learned how FOGs clog our sewer pipes and cause sewer overflows.  They created FOG cans for kitchen grease; don't put it down the drain!

Toilet Toss Trivia!  Should I flush this down the toilet?  If you have to ask the question, the answer is NO!  Plastics, baby wipes, and other things clog our sewer lines and cause yucky sewer spills.

Even the parents got into it with the "Parachute the Litter" game.

The kids learned about meeting community water needs with this fun "Long Haul" water relay!

And, of course, we had a huge water slide just for fun!

Parents and kids alike had a great time learning about water conservation, water use, and what's in our water, all while having fun with these games!  Team Water could not have done it without the help of all the local organizations and our beautiful volunteers!

Thanks to everyone who made this a fun weekend that left everyone saying H20-yeah!

H2O-Yeah!

I cannot believe that this Saturday is the Athens Water Festival.  It’s finally here!  
September 8, from 10am-2pm, we’ll be at Sandy Creek Park with members of Team Water, Water Reclamation Facilities, Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services (which includes Bear Hollow staff!), and many more local organizations!  We have planned all kinds of hands-on, interactive activities and games for families.
It’s only a $2 entry fee, and all the activities, including the recycled boat regatta, are free!
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me!
Now, the premise behind this festival is to celebrate water: obviously, Annaliese, thanks.  
But, it’s special this year, because we get to celebrate the 50th anniversary of wastewater treatment in Athens! So we’re focusing on wastewater: where it goes, how it gets cleaned, who cleans it, and what happens to it after it’s clean.  

For some background, water reclamation is the process of taking wastewater, “reclaiming” it, cleaning it, and returning it to the source.  We have only had such a service since 1962…even before the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972!  This means that Athens had leading edge environmental policies before the federal government did (I’m proud to call this city my home).  By 1964, Athens had two plants up and running: one serving the North Oconee discharge and one serving the Middle Oconee basin.  
Now, as I mentioned in last week’s blog [you can read it here], we have three plants that work 24/7, 365 days a year to clean the water we’re returning to our rivers.  In fact, the reclamation facilities regularly return cleaner water to our rivers than what we pulled out of them in the first place-- I think that’s pretty cool.  
I could go on, but this link’s author said it much better than I ever could: “Why a Reclamation Celebration?”

The reclamation process might not sound conducive for family-friendly field events, but I am betting you and your kids will have tons of fun.
Some of the activities—each sponsored by a different organization—include: dirt dessert, Enviroscape activity, memory games, see water bugs from our own streams, meet some animals that are water lovers, learn about the water chemistry of our rivers, and more!  Sounds pretty fun, and my favorite part about it is that it’s educational, too!  I love it when I can learn something while I’m playing a game (wait, does that make me nerdy? Eh, it’s to be expected from a science geek)!
Speaking of science geeks, kids should check with their schools about receiving extra credit for attendance.  Sneakily enough, most of the activities do meet curriculum standards…which makes these games even cooler (Yup, big nerd.).
I’m very excited to introduce this festival to the blog world: hopefully this will put it on your radar, if it wasn’t already!  
A few last minute tips to remember:

• Food will be available for a small purchase, with proceeds going to a local charity!
• Bring a swimsuit, Lake Chapman (at the Park) will be open for swimming!
• Bring water bottles, we’ll have a free refilling station to keep everyone hydrated!
• Bring your excitement, we’ll match you: this festival is going to be splashingly awesome!