Down by the Riverside

During the month of October, 54 participants gathered together to clean-up the rivers in Lumpkin County. If you couldn't make it this year, here's a rundown of what we did so that you may decide to join in the fun next year.
On Saturday October 6th, 18 participants, including groups from Lumpkin County's Trout Unlimited, Hidden Lake Academy, and North Georgia College worked along the river at Hightower Bridge and Jay Bridge, two of the most accessible and abused sites along the Etowah by locals and visitors. It has taken groups six years to clean-up the trash there that accumulated over the past few decades; but new garbage continues to accumulate. This year kids from Hidden Lake went swimming above Jay bride after the clean-up, then we all ate lunch provided by Revival Gardens Organic Produce before we gathered at the river by the garden to collect samples of invertebrates to identify and count using Georgia Adopt-a-Stream protocols. We collected 85 specimens, representing 16 different species. One of the students commented that "we are the modern-day Noahs counting the different creatures for the Ark, our planet Earth." (In this age of global environmental threats, I think Noah might agree!) The good news, according to Georgia Adopt-a-Stream formulas is that the number and variety of the invertebrate species we sampled has excellent water quality for now. Anyone interested in meeting these critters and the clues they reveal about the river can join us every each month as we continue to monitor two sites along the Etowah below Jay Bridge. (It is especially fun for kids and trout fisherman who can learn allot about the seasonal food chain in the river.) Contact joe@worldclass.net or call 706 265-5502 if you'd like to join us. We'll be exchanging our data with students in Japan this year through the World Class Learning Alliance (www.worldclass.org).
On Saturday October 20th 36 participants, including groups from the Georgia Canoing Association formed clean-up teams led by Lumpkin Coalition (lumpkincoalition.org). We continued working on foot and by canoe along the Etowah, from Jay Bridge to Castleberry Bridge; and along the Chestatee from Coppermine through Hwy 52 bridge. The coffee and doughnuts before the clean-up and the barbecue afterwards provided by Lumpkin Coalition was a great way to get to know each other and share river stories. All in all, this year's river clean-up campaign collected close to 1500 pounds of garbage, including tires, clothes, mattresses, bottles, oil drums, car batteries, cans, etc. Please join us sometime soon on "the Ark" to keep the river beautiful for all the critters, including us! It is sure to be good fun with your friends Down by the Riverside.