Canoochee EMC Foundation Awards Grant to Ogeechee Riverkeeper

The following article was written and submitted by Meaghan Gerard, Ogeechee Riverkeeper Communications and Administrative Director.

Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) is pleased to receive a grant from Canoochee EMC to support its comprehensive water quality monitoring program. ORK’s mission is to protect, preserve and improve the water quality in the Ogeechee River basin, which includes more than 5,500 square miles across 21 Georgia counties. ORK also offers education opportunities, hosts events and participates in coalitions to promote clean water efforts in the region.

Despite a largely rural landscape, this region of Georgia is experiencing rapid increased development pressure from population growth, water withdrawals and wastewater discharges. Many pressures are causing dramatic changes in water quality and quantity, threatening serious ecological decline by shifting wildlife and fisheries populations.

Canoochee EMC Member Services Manager Kyle Durrence (left) presents a check to Ogeechee Riverkeeper Executive Director Damon Mullis.

“When you’re out on the river, you feel enveloped in wildness,” says Damon Mullis, Ogeechee Riverkeeper and Executive Director. “It’s hard to find those places that make you feel like you’re out in the wild. It makes it even more important to protect it, because these things are becoming rarer.”

The grant from Canoochee EMC will fund equipment and supplies to measure water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and specific conductance to monitor the health of our waterways, including the Canoochee River.

All of the data collected from ORK’s sampling is publicly available online at www.knowyourriver.com, a website where citizens can get information on the water quality in their area. Furthermore, ORK shares monitoring results with stakeholders, agencies, media and municipalities as needed.

ORK also offers the annual Canoochee Paddle Race, citizen science programs, local ordinance updates, an annual photography contest, environmental blog posts, organized cleanups and more. To learn more, visit www. ogeecheeriverkeeper.org.

Touchstone Energy Senior Citizen of the Month

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