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Justin Ellis on WCHM
1490 AM Kay Dover
interviewed Justin Ellis, Executive Director of the SRWA on June
1, 2009, for the "Good Morning Habersham" show on WCHM 1490 AM.
Justin talked about everything from his cross-country bicycle trip
to his vision for the work of the SRWA.
Listen to it here, using QuickTime player.
Students Monitor
Soque WatershedThe
following article is reprinted by permission from the
www.WaysSouth.org
newsletter.
By Duncan Hughes, WaysSouth Board
Director, Watershed
Coordinator for the Soque Watershed Partnership
Students from North Georgia
Technical College and Piedmont College in Habersham County, Ga.
are helping document and assess water quality impairments in the
Soque River watershed. This area is right in the middle of
the route initially proposed for I-3. As in much of the
Southeast, rapid population growth in Habersham County puts
pressures on aquatic systems and increases demand for water
supplies. The student volunteers are performing important
field work and evaluating data to prioritize protection efforts
and corrective actions. Their goal is to ensure available
clean water for current and future residents of Habersham County
and its watershed. The field work and laboratory analysis
include monitoring for non-point source pollutants (those
associated with runoff after rainfall). Excessive bacteria
and sediment are the primary concerns in the Soque watershed and
across the state of Georgia.
The baseline data collected by
these volunteers will help WaysSouth as we advocate for
responsible transportation in Appalachia. Environmental
degradation of head water streams and vital drinking water
supplies frequently occurs when massive highway projects are
constructed through an area. Excessive runoff and
sedimentation associated with such highway construction was most
recently evident in our area with the widening of U.S. 441 between
Tallulah Falls and Clayton. By having data to document
existing water quality conditions, WaysSouth will be armed with
evidence to support transportation solutions that do minimal
damage to water supplies and the aquatic life that depends on the
region’s rivers and streams.
In the spirit of WaysSouth, these
student volunteers work to promote responsible use and protection
of our resources. Their willingness to work towards
long-term resource protection is refreshing. These efforts
support the connection between clean water and better ways of
moving goods and ourselves around the Southern Appalachians.
For information about the Soque River Watershed Partnership, visit
the Watershed Partnership pages on this website.
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Justin Ellis Selected as
Executive Director
The
Soque River
Watershed Association is pleased to announce the hiring of a new
Executive Director. Justin Ellis of Athens, Georgia
will begin working with SRWA on May 15, 2009.
If the name Justin Ellis is familiar, it is because
Ellis served as the first Executive Director of the Association
from 2002 to 2005. Since that time, Ellis has not only bicycled
across the country, but has completed graduate work towards a
Master’s degree in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable
Development at the
University
of Georgia.
One of Ellis’s greatest accomplishments as Executive
Director was to facilitate the Association in receiving a $345,000
four year Federal 319h non-point source abatement grant. The
grant resulted in the creation of the Soque River Watershed
Partnership which has been assessing and monitoring the river and
its tributaries since 2004.
Ellis also obtained some acclaim for his 5,000 mile
bike tour in 2006. He visited over 50 farms in ten states during
four and a half months to learn about the current state of and the
future of farming in the United States.
Ellis will be replacing Duncan Hughes, who has been
Acting Executive Director since the fall of 2007. Hughes’s
official job is Watershed Coordinator for the Soque River
Watershed Partnership, of which the SRWA is a member. He is on
the teaching staff of North Georgia
Technical
College.
The Executive Director, under the direction of the
Board of Directors, is responsible for carrying out the strategic
plan and assuring the success and stability of the Association.
Ellis brings an ability to inspire new and creative approaches to
programming. He will be responsible for fundraising and
facilitating the Association as it aspires to function as a
“change-agent” in fostering community stewardship of the Soque
River and
its watershed.
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Hemlock forest death
rate faster than expected: Wooly
adelgid eradicating tree vital to trout stream protection
The
following appeared in
The Northeast Georgian March 31, 2009.
Reprinted with permission by The Northeast Georgian.
By Donald Fraser
While property owners struggle to protect their
hemlock trees from the invasion of the hemlock wooly adelgid,
research now shows the pest is killing trees more quickly than
expected.
The research came from the
U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) in Otto, N.C.
The research also suggests the rapid death of the hemlocks
altering the carbon cycle of the forests.
The research was published recently in the
journal Ecosystems.
According to the report, Eastern hemlock, a keystone species in
the streamside forests of the southern Appalachian region, is
already experiencing widespread decline and mortality because of
hemlock woolly adelgid (a tiny nonnative insect) infestation.
A keystone species is an organism with a major
influence in its ecosystem. The Eastern hemlock “plays an
important role in the ecology and hydrology of mountain
ecosystems. Hemlock forests provide critical habitat for birds and
other animals; their shade helps maintain the cool water
temperatures required by trout and other aquatic organisms in
mountain streams,” the report stated.
The wooly adelgid is considered as having the potential to kill
most of the region's hemlock trees within the next decade.
Coweeta scientists compared rates of decline of adelgid-infested
hemlock trees to a small number of girdled trees that were not
infested. Girdling is stripping bark from a tree to stop water and
nutrient flow from roots to the crown.
After tracking changes over a three year period the scientists
were surprised to discover adelgid-infested trees declined as
quickly as girdled trees.
The study appears to support “the widely held belief that adelgid-infested
hemlock trees in the South are declining much faster than the
reported 9-year decline of some infested hemlock trees in the
Northeast."
The study suggests infrequent frigid winter temperatures in the
south may not be enough to suppress adelgid populations, leading
to hemlocks dying faster and the infestation spreading.
While hemlocks are dying, scientists have not yet determined what
tree species will replace them.
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River Cleanups yield 4 tons of tires, oil, and garbage around area
streams
Over thirty individuals attended two river cleanups sponsored by
the cities of Mount Airy, Cornelia and Clarkesville on Saturday.
Together the groups collected more than 4 tons of refuse,
including items such as TV’s and over 40 tires.
The cleanup marked the very first effort between Mount Airy and
Cornelia to address problems on Camp Creek, a tributary of the
Soque Watershed and the drinking water supply for the city of
Cornelia. Camp Creek first begins behind Mt. Airy city hall and
flows within the city limits until it is captured by the Camp
Creek reservoir. The cleanup volunteers identified and collected
three and a half tons of garbage along the creek and the
reservoir, including such items as gas cans and milk jugs filled
with oil.
The Camp Creek team consisted of citizens, kids and city officials
and staff. Representing Mt. Airy were mayor
Gary Morris, city councilman Ray McCalister
and staffers Mark Gardner, and Richard Burton. Representing
Conelia were Colleen Hyde and Mona
Painter. The event was organized by Justin Ellis of the Soque
River Watershed Association. In addition to area residents, six
neighborhood kids joined the clean-up and helped volunteers
identify particularly littered areas. The cleanup was the first of
its kind for Cornelia and Mt. Airy.
“Of all the tributaries to the Soque we believe Camp Creek is one
of our top priorities for restoration,” states Ellis. In addition
to garbage, there are several other problems that should be
addressed. Pools of stagnant water, laden with iron
leachate, erosion, the washing of oil
and antifreeze from cars passing through the dip, blocked culverts
and agriculture inputs all add up to a drinking water supply that
needs attention.
“When we approached the cities of Mt. Airy and Cornelia, they
expressed nothing but enthusiasm for bringing some much needed
attention to these problems. The real purpose of this clean-up was
as a first step towards the two cities, as well as the county
working together to identify long-term solutions to preserving and
restoring this important water supply.”
The clean-up identified dump sites along Camp Creek that appeared
to be over forty years old and contained items that leach toxic
compounds into the water. Mt. Airy and Cornelia crews worked
together to remove these illegal piles and take them to the
Habersham County Landfill.
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Clarkesville's
Sewer Problems
The collection and treatment of wastewater is one of those
services like running water and electricity….easy to overlook and
easy to take for granted.
Clarkesville is 100% effective
at collecting and treating their sewage during dry weather, but
when heavy rains come, the collection system is overloaded with
storm water resulting in the release of raw sewage into the Soque
River
The City’s main sewer trunk
follows the southern bank of the Soque River from the area just
above the bridge at 197 to the treatment plant located just below
the Hwy 115 bridge. This trunk line is 6,000 feet long and 12
inches in diameter.
In September and October of
2003, the City of Clarkesville contracted with Keck and Wood
Engineering to evaluate their sewer system, particularly problems
with capacity along the main sewer line. The study found that
within hours of a heavy rain event, the sewer trunk line
experiences “immediate overloading due to the inflow of storm
water.” This overloading results in overflows at one or more
locations along the trunk line. The study states that a “major
portion of the storm water inflow was confirmed to be originating
in the portions of the collection system serving North Georgia
Technical College.”
Storm water is water
collected and channeled away from buildings and roads through
simple systems such as gutters, downspouts, culverts and drainage
conveyances. Unfortunately, most of the storm water at the North
Georgia Tech campus is hooked directly into Clarkesville’s sewer
system rather than into a temporary holding basin that then slowly
releases the water into surrounding streams.
During large rain events
storm water from the college flows directly into an 8-inch
diameter pipe that travels downhill along Hwy 197 for 3,760 feet
before being pumped into a 6-inch force main and into the main
trunk line. According to the report the trunk line “simply does
not have the capacity to handle storm water flows of the magnitude
originating at the College.” The report notes that while some
progress has been made in correcting deficiencies at the college,
“the inflow problems on the campus remain overwhelming,” and that
the “old original sewers are in advanced stages of deterioration
[..]”
The recent hurricane rains
were the latest contributor to sewage overflows as result of a
surge of stormwater. At the current time, the City of
Clarkesville and North Georgia Technical Colleges have two reports
that both recommend a series of actions to remedy the problems
both are faced with.
Both parties are partners in
the Soque Watershed Partnership and this may be their first test
to find out how to clean up a messy problem.
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