CHATTAHOOCHEE REVIVAL

20 years of monitoring, advocacy and enforcement

By Clare S. Richie

Twenty years ago, the Chattahoochee River was a contaminated eyesore. Georgians counted on the river to provide drinking water for nearly 4 million residents, to carry away wastewater from more than 100 wastewater treatment plants, and for power generation. But protection of this workhorse was woefully inadequate. Government agencies were not enforcing environmental laws due to insu cient funding, sta ng or political will.

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) set out to change that in 1994, when co-founders Laura Turner and Rutherford Seydel brought the Hudson Riverkeeper model to Georgia’s most beleaguered river. With a $50,000 grant and donated o ce space, Sally Bethea took the reins as founding executive director and the rst “Riverkeeper” of the organization.

e river has been reborn thanks to Bethea, CRK and its partners. e nonpro t now has a $1.5 million budget with a dozen sta , o ces in Atlanta, Gainesville and LaGrange, and 7,000 members dedicated to defending water quality and quantity in the Chattahoochee River basin.

“It takes a lot of di erent approaches to clean up and protect the river,” Bethea said.

Looking back on the organization’s history, Bethea is most proud of CRK’s $2 billion legal victory against the City of Atlanta, robust river and stream monitoring and education e orts.

In 1995, CRK led a lawsuit against the city for failing to control the discharge of raw sewage into the river from combined sewer over ows. CRK won the case in 1997 and settled it in 1998. is led to an enforceable plan to overhaul the city’s entire sewage system. Today, the river and its tributaries are dramatically cleaner.

“It sent a message that somebody is watching and is willing to le lawsuits to enforce existing laws,” Bethea said. at said, CRK prefers to resolve matters through communication and negotiated agreements and is proud of its working relationships with business, industry, government and civic groups.

CRK is also the top monitoring group in the state with EPA approved, quality assured labs in all three o ce locations. Each week, volunteers at 70 monitoring stations throughout the basin collect samples that are analyzed at one of these labs. “We turn data into action and have stopped dozens of sewer spills,” according to Bethea.

Monitoring e orts also includes cracking down on industrial polluters, which are not in compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act. CRK talks with and educates these companies rst, seeking legal action only as a last resort.

In 2000, CRK developed a “ oating classroom” on Lake Lanier – and which will expand to West Point Lake soon – to teach the next generation how to protect our rivers. e Lake Lanier Aquatic Learning Center, a partnership between CRK and Elachee Nature Science Center, has taught 35,000 students so far. Aboard a 40-foot catamaran with a glass bottom viewing well, K-12 students have learned about water quality and ecology through hands-on activities.

A 20th anniversary gala will be held on Oct. 14 and will also serve as a salute to Bethea, who is retiring at the end of this year. Starting in 2015, Jason Ulseth, who becomes the Riverkeeper a er seven years as technical programs director, and Juliet Cohen, who transitions to executive director a er six years as general counsel, will carry on the legacy of one of strongest environmental organizations in the state.

“We’ll grow what Sally’s worked to build,” Ulseth said. “ e river is cleaner than it’s been in decades, but a lot of work is still ahead.”

RIVER & BLUES Celebration of Land returns to Chattahoochee

e Trust for Public Land is returning to the Chattahoochee River for the sixth annual Celebration of Land on Oct. 19. e Trust has helped conserve 16,000 acres of the river’s watershed over the last two decades and has just begun the reclamation of Proctor Creek, a sevenmile greenway that will connect the Atlanta Beltline with the river.

With the theme of River & Blues, this year’s fundraiser will be held at Riverview Landing, an 82-acre reclamation site (it was formerly a scrap yard) along the Chattahoochee River. Jamestown Properties owns the land and is responsible for its restoration. It is slated for a mix of homes, shops, restaurants and green space.

Northsiders Jackie and Jimmy Cushman are the chairs for this year’s Celebration of Land, which has raised more than $500,000 for land conservation over the last ve years. e casual evening will feature dinner, live music, dancing and a silent auction on the banks of the river. e event will honor Bea Perez, Chief Sustainability O cer at Coca-Cola, for her work focusing on water and wellbeing.

For more information, visit tpl.org.

Eco-Briefs

e 15th annual Trees e National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has announced that the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation has retained its accreditation status. Atlanta is one of only 119 park and recreation agencies nationwide accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). is national accreditation by the NRPA is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a parks system and sets it apart from thousands of other parks systems throughout the nation. e City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation was rst accredited in 2009. e Southface Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable convenes once a month to discuss the region’s current environmental issues – from water to energy, urban planning to policy and much more. Members of the audience are encouraged to ask questions, make comments, network and learn about Atlanta’s current and future opportunities for sustainable development. Meetings are held from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at a di erent sustainable site each month. To see where the Oct. 3 and Nov. 7 meetings will be held, visit southface.org/sart for more information.

Atlanta Tree Sale & Jamboree will be held Oct. 4 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a new location: Freedom Farmers’ Market at e Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway. Trees Atlanta will o er more than 1,500 native and exotic plants – including 200 species of trees, shrubs, native perennials, and tree-safe vines – for purchase by the public. All proceeds bene t Trees Atlanta’s planting and education programs, helping the community plant approximately 3,000 trees each year and reach over 8,000 children and adults with education programs all around metro Atlanta. is year’s Tree Sale will not only feature unusual and hard-to- nd native and exotic trees, it will also feature a selection of native trees, shrubs, and perennials that attract wildlife and pollinators such as birds, butter ies, and bees. Don’t forget to pick up some of Atlanta’s nest compost for your new trees from CompostWheels while you’re there. For a list of available trees and more information, visit treesatlanta.org.

India Woodson has joined the Decatur’s Design, Environment and Construction Division as the city’s rst ever Landscape Infrastructure Coordinator. e main part of her job is to manage and administer the Tree Canopy Conservation Ordinance, which went into e ect in July. She will also collaborate with other city departments, governmental agencies and citizen groups on landscape projects, canopy restoration programs and green space enhancement programs. “India Woodson brings a passion for trees and years of experience to the city,” said City Manager Peggy Merriss. “She will play an important role in helping educate the community about tree canopy in the city of Decatur.” India received her degree in horticulture in 1991 and has been an International Society of Arboriculture Certi ed Arborist for more than 12 years. She is on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Urban Forest Council and served as the organization’s president in 2012. Previously, India worked as an arborist with DeKalb County and started her career serving on a naval carrier as a Hospital Corpsman.