Innovative tool: using adopt-a-stream water quality monitoring methods in the development & implementation of watershedmanagement plans funded by section 319(h) grants

Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 10-11, 2013, Athens, Georgia.Georgia EPD awards Section 319(h) Grants through a competitive process that puts priority on the development and implementation of watershed management plans addressing impaired waters of the State. Planning involves identifying and ranking non-point sources of pollution most likely to cause water quality impairment; evaluating on-the-ground controls and practices; and installing solutions determined to reduce pollutant loads from the most likely sources. Georgia EPD’s Section 319(h) Grants Unit and Adopt- A-Stream Volunteer Monitoring Program have recently collaborated to provide 319(h) grant recipients with the tools and training needed to properly assess water quality in impaired waterways both before and after management solutions are in place. Due to the dynamic nature of rivers and streams, each 319(h) Grant project presents a unique set of water quality concerns to be monitored. Georgia Adopt-A-Stream trainers customize grant-driven workshops to meet the specific needs of each project and, using EPA- approved Adopt-A-Stream methods, train project partners to collect water quality data related to the type(s) of impairment in the stream. Baseline data and pollutant loading “hot spots” are analyzed to identify the most likely pollutant sources and to prioritize areas that would benefit from specific management solutions. Continued data collection after best management practices are installed helps to measure the effectiveness of these same controls. This presentation will summarize Adopt-A-Stream monitoring methods and showcase selected Section 319(h) projects that are currently benefiting from the monitoring partnership between the Georgia EPD Grants Unit and Adopt-A-Stream Volunteer Monitoring Program.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute; The University of Georgia, Water Resources Faculty.This book was published by Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2152. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-307) or the other conference sponsors