Beyond the Bridge

from Atlanta Intown - June 2017

by Rough Draft Atlanta: Atlanta Intown, Reporter Newspapers

Tiny Steps

Protecting the beauty of metro Atlanta’s South River

By Grace Huseth

According to healthy river advocate Jackie Echols, most people only see Atlanta’s rivers from bridges. Echols wants to get people off the bridges and down to the banks with the creation of the South River Neighborhood Network.

“Most don’t know the name of the creek in their backyard,” said Echols, who is president of the South River Watershed Alliance. “It’s important for people to have a name and become aware of how they can improve it.”

On Earth Day in April, the South River Water Alliance partnered with The Nature Conservancy, Park Pride, Trees Atlanta and other organizations to create a network that supports the 60-mile long South River. The South River has its headwaters north of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport and runs through six counties before emptying into Lake Jackson.

The South River Neighborhood Network initiative will advocate and maintain five “urban forest” projects in DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta.

Developing greenspaces is the first line of defense for rivers. Not only do they catch debris and pollution before they can even hit the water, but are critical in urban biological diversity. The first projects in the initiative include building a new trail to better connect residents to the Chapel Hill Park in Decatur, maintaining a native plant pollinator garden at the Wylde Center, removing invasive species at the 200acre Constitution Lakes wetlands and creating trails at Thomasville Heights and Redan Nature Reserve.

As part of the South River Neighborhood Network, the South River Water Alliance will perform their first water testing as an organized effort. Echols envisions water tests to be an event during which people can learn about the creeks in their neighborhood.

Echols is hoping residents will report the real time data to their DeKalb County and that the data will provide evidence that county’s Clean Water Act must be upheld. “Water tests arm folks with information to have that conversation and advocate for the creeks and streams in their neighborhoods,” she said.

Myriam Dormer, urban conservation director for The Nature Conservancy in Georgia, said sanitary sewer overflow is a sensitive subject in DeKalb. “The county is working to address this, but residents don’t understand the scale of this problem,” Dormer said. “We do want people to use their local creeks and streams as an amenity, but the awareness of the presence of the South River in the region is very low.”

The water-monitoring program will raise mindfulness and allows for what Dormer calls “citizen science.”

Any member of the community can track water quality over time and share the information with their neighbors. Neighbors can then chat, often through online platforms like Nextdoor and Facebook, to share updates on the water quality.

This passion for protecting local creeks and rivers is usually sparked by seeing the beauty of the river. One of Echols’ first projects as president of the South River Water Alliance was to organize a canoe outing to see exactly what they would be improving. A team of nearly 25 people rented canoes from Atlanta outfitter White Water Georgia Learning Outfitter, set off from Panola Shoals and floated down over six miles of remote, tranquil river. They rarely heard a car.

“Seeing just how beautiful the river is often is the best way we can raise awareness,” Echols said.

For more information, visit southriverga.org.

Community Gardens

Planter beds installed on PATH400

A new kind of greenspace has come to PATH400: community gardens.

When construction on the segment of PATH400 between Sidney Marcus Boulevard and Miami Circle began about 18 months ago, crews discovered that residents of the Atlanta Housing Authority’s nearby Marian Road highrise had been using a tucked-away piece of land to grow vegetables. PATH400’s leaders were inspired to take this “guerilla gardening” to the next level and made plans to create a community garden space on the trail.

“In the same way that PATH400 is being built in the ‘found’ right-of-way space along the highway, these gardeners took an unused space and turned it into something worthwhile,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead, the nonprofit organization spearheading PATH400 in Buckhead. “We love that spirit, and we wanted to bring it into the project in a way that engages the local community and creates a unique amenity for this area.”

In April, more than 30 volunteers from Livable Buckhead, the City of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability, Atlanta Housing Authority, Rubicon, Integral, Lockton and Jones, Lang, LaSalle completed installation of planter beds that spell out “PATH400.” The beds, filled with vegetable plants, were then dedicated to the residents of the Marian Road highrise who will tend them.

“AHA appreciates Livable Buckhead, the cohort of Atlanta citizens and our AHA staff volunteers who showed up today for the installation and initial planting of the PATH400 community gardens,” said Catherine Buell, president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority. “The outcome is beautiful, but more important for the Marian Road highrise residents, the gardens represent access to healthy produce and an opportunity to get outdoors for exercise as part of AHA’s aging well strategy.”

The planter beds were crafted by designer Chris McDowell who works with reclaimed lumber to create his works of garden art. McDowell created the beds in his Athens shop and transported them to Buckhead for the installation. He was brought into the project by Mario Cambardella, urban agriculture director for the City of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability.

“When Livable Buckhead approached us about building a community garden on PATH400 that would also be a design feature, I knew Chris was the perfect person for the project,” said Cambardella. “These beds are a great example of why urban agriculture is so beneficial and why the Office of Sustainability wants to encourage it citywide. We’re glad to have played a part in helping the Marian Road highrise residents take their community garden to the next level, and are thankful to Livable Buckhead for bringing us in on the project.”

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