Congratulations to the winner of our member T-Shirt Design Contest!
We were very excited and impressed with the number of quality submissions to our member T-Shirt Design Contest, which ran through the month of January on Facebook. There were so many worthy contenders, in fact, that we expanded our number of finalists (decided by fan votes) from three to five.
And the winner is ... Matthew Albert! Matthew's submission (at right), which evokes the poster designs of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration as well as modern-day designer Michael Schwab, was one of the top three vote-getters among our Facebook fans, and was at the top of several of our judges' ballots.The runners-up in this very close balloting and judging were Jonathan M. Chaffin (the top vote-getter among fans), Will Pridgen, Monica Sheppard and Andrew Telker. You can see all of the entries in the Photos section of the Facebook event page.
Big thanks to our judges: SweetWater Brewery's Freddy Bensch, ArtsCriticATL's Catherine Fox, visual arts critic Felicia Feaster, musician Emily Kate Boyd and 99X/100.5 FM event manager Mike Kee.Matthew Albert will receive a private cabana for six at the 16th Annual River Revival (on May 4), the opportunity to meet the performing artists, and go home with a few of his winning tees! Also, please remember to renew your UCR membership at the 2011 rates ($25 individuals, $10 seniors/students, $40 family). Starting March 1, membership dues will increase to $35 individuals, $15 seniors/students, $50 family.
Tickets on sale now for 5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival (March 11)
Get your tickets today for our 5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival, held Sunday, March 11, at a new location: Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. The festival is the largest environmental film festival in North America. Each year, UCR partners with Georgia River Network (GRN) and Georgia ForestWatch (GFW) to select the best of these award-winning environmental films for a two-and-a-half-hour program. The event often includes more locally relevant films.
The program (with a 15-minute intermission) offers a mix of films addressing environmental issues such as energy, food systems, biodiversity, climate change and the protection and restoration of wild lands and waters. And as a tradition and special treat, our guests can enjoy complimentary SweetWater brews (for patrons 21 and over carrying a valid ID). Landmark Midtown Art Cinema is just a block from gorgeous Piedmont Park in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta. (See map here.) Doors open at 1 p.m.; films screen from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. including the intermission. You can visit the event page here, and purchase tickets here.
Registration opens Friday (Feb. 3) for 2nd Annual Sweep the Hooch
Registration for the 2nd Annual Sweep the Hooch cleanup (April 14) will open on Friday, Feb. 3. Working in partnership with the Upper Chattahoochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the National Park Service, we will pick up trash at 18 sites along the 48-mile stretch of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. (We'll have walker, waders and paddlers working the river!) . In last year's inaugural event, we pulled out 3.3 tons of trash (1,500 pounds of which were recycled).
And our timing couldn't be better for this event as it’s National Park Week from April 14-21, 2012. All 397 national parks across the country (including the CRNRA) will have free admission during National Park Week.
Check out the Sweep the Hooch event page here, and visit our Facebook event page for updates here! For a complete 2012 schedule, visit our events calendar here.
Get ready for your spring garden, rain barrel workshop on Feb. 15
UCR’s Rain Barrel Program kills two birds with one stone! Thanks to a partnership with Coca-Cola, UCR re-purposes donated 60-gallon syrup drums from the Atlanta-based beverage company and teaches workshop participants how they can convert them into rain harvesting containers. Our rain barrel design requires no over flow or worries about mosquitoes, so the collection in the barrel is easy and painless.
Headwaters Outreach Manager Bonny Putney, who is certified in rain water collection, hosts a series of rain barrel workshops over the course of the year, and kicks off 2012 with workshops on Wednesday, Feb. 15, and again on March 7 at the City of Atlanta Water Works Lodge (655 Green St., Atlanta, GA 30318). New this year: The $40 fee not only includes a rain barrel, installation kit and instructions, but also is good for a one-year UCR membership. Workshops start at 6 p.m. Register here.
Georgia Water Coalition's 'Dirty Dozen' exposes worst offenses
On Nov. 5, Georgia’s leading water protection group named its “Dirty Dozen” for 2011, exposing the worst offenses to Georgia’s waters. Representing more than 300,000 Georgians, the Georgia Water Coalition announced the list at a celebration marking its 10th year of advocating for clean water.
Two Chattahoochee watershed issues were included on the list — the state’s failure to monitor the minimum flow in the river at Atlanta to ensure that water quality standards are met at all times below the city, and the proposed Glades reservoir in Hall County that would negatively impact downstream communities and public coffers.
“Too often in Georgia, the fox is watching the hen house,” said UCR’s Sally Bethea, a former member of the state's Department of Natural Resources Board and who was removed during a purge in 2007 that also eliminated three other dedicated conservationists. “Some of the problems on this list have been happening for decades, and the agency that is supposed to fix the problems can’t, or won’t. The failures go deeper than lack of funding.”
Forsyth County judge reverses clean water decision
A Forsyth County judge reversed a decision made in June by Administrative Law Judge Kristin Miller in UCR’s appeal of a wastewater discharge permit issued by the Georgia EPD to Forsyth County for its new Fowler/Shakerag facility. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley incorrectly found that Judge Miller applied an "enhanced antidegradation review" when she concluded that the permit issued by EPD would degrade water quality in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, and ordered EPD to reissue the permit with more stringent pollution limits.
In writing his order, the judge improperly relied on guidance instead of the clear language of the law and regulation. The decision by a Forsyth County judge is bad for water quality in the Chattahoochee River, particularly for all those downstream of Forsyth County, including the families, boaters and fishermen who enjoy the river. Read Judge Bagley's ruling here. Read the related articles here and here.
UPDATE: The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to review the case. Read the article here.
Local governments help fill metro water gap
UCR's recent report, Filling the Water Gap: Conservation Successes and Missed Opportunities in Metro Atlanta, reviews the past decade of water planning in the metro region and evaluates conservation practices by ten local governments. Overall, the report finds that metro governments are stretching taxpayer dollars to improve conservation practices; however, state leaders have fallen short in providing the firm guidance and resources necessary for local governments to achieve the water and money savings required for the region’s water security. LEARN MORE HERE.
Meanwhile, although state officials are quite willing to ask for federal aid for drought-stricken counties, these same officials have yet to take other action as Georgia enters yet another extreme drought. FOR LATEST DROUGHT CONDITIONS, CLICK HERE.
For example, state officials have not updated the 2003 Drought Management Plan, finalized rules to guide water management during times of drought, or imposed temporary emergency measures. Instead, local governments are forced to petition the state before they may impose any additional outdoor watering restrictions. TO SEE WHICH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE TAKEN ACTION, CLICK HERE.
In spite of ruling in favor of Georgia, tri-state resolution remains uncertain
This summer the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals validated Georgia’s access to Lake Lanier for water supply, giving the Corps of Engineers just one year to determine how to operate Lake Lanier’s Buford Dam to support water supply as well as hydropower, flood control, and navigation. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TRI-STATE CONFLICT HERE.
Today, Georgia remains no closer to reaching a deal with Alabama and Florida over the actual amount of water available to metro Atlanta for water supply needs. Moreover, Georgia’s ongoing emphasis on building new reservoirs does not demonstrate the good stewardship necessary to help us reach an amicable water sharing agreement with our neighbors. Worse, during these tough economic times, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new reservoirs is fiscally irresponsible.
Instead, we should work to reduce demand by increasing water efficiency; maximize yield of existing reservoirs including Lanier; and regulate interbasin transfers of water. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE “Charting a New Course for Georgia’s Security,” a three-point action plan for resolving the tri-state conflict.
As a leader of the Tri-State Conservation Coalition and a member of the ACF Stakeholders, UCR will continue to advocate for water conservation and healthy instream flows that protect fish, wildlife, recreation, and downstream communities, as well as metro Atlanta's drinking water.
We were very excited and impressed with the number of quality submissions to our member T-Shirt Design Contest, which ran through the month of January on Facebook. There were so many worthy contenders, in fact, that we expanded our number of finalists (decided by fan votes) from three to five.
Get your tickets today for our 
Registration for the 2nd Annual Sweep the Hooch cleanup (April 14) will open on Friday, Feb. 3. Working in partnership with the 
UCR’s Rain Barrel Program kills two birds with one stone! Thanks to a partnership with Coca-Cola, UCR re-purposes donated 60-gallon syrup drums from the Atlanta-based beverage company and teaches workshop participants how they can convert them into rain harvesting containers. Our rain barrel design requires no over flow or worries about mosquitoes, so the collection in the barrel is easy and painless.
On Nov. 5, Georgia’s leading water protection group named its 
A Forsyth County judge reversed a decision made in June by Administrative Law Judge Kristin Miller in UCR’s appeal of a wastewater discharge permit issued by the Georgia EPD to Forsyth County for its new Fowler/Shakerag facility. Chief Judge Jeffrey Bagley incorrectly found that Judge Miller applied an "enhanced antidegradation review" when she concluded that the permit issued by EPD would degrade water quality in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, and ordered EPD to reissue the permit with more stringent pollution limits.
UCR's recent report, 
This summer the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals validated Georgia’s access to Lake Lanier for water supply, giving the Corps of Engineers just one year to determine how to operate Lake Lanier’s Buford Dam to support water supply as well as hydropower, flood control, and navigation. 
