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watershed assessment

Watershed Assessments
Lowndes, GA
Fort Valley, GA
Millen, GA
Thomasville, GA
Valdosta, GA
Successful Implementation

Source Water Assessments
A Source Water Assessment

Watershed Assessments
Engineers, scientists, and policy experts at The University of Georgia work with cities and counties throughout the state to conduct watershed assessments that meet regulatory requirements and provide a roadmap for managing water resources as populations grow. The University of Georgia has a mandate to serve, and faculty and staff at UGA meet that mandate with an extensive toolbox of skills ready to serve the scientific, technical, policy, planning and management needs of municipalities.

What is a Watershed Assessment?
Watershed Assessments allow communities to manage and protect their water resources by understanding the mechanisms affecting the watershed. Watershed assessments have many components in common. Historical data are gathered from a multitude of sources, such as the US Geological Survey, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and municipalities. Field data, to provide a baseline understanding of the current situation, include: biological, water quality and quantity, and soil sampling results. To gather these data, field crews visit key sites on the rivers in the watershed to check parameters such as stream depths, temperature, and nitrogen levels. Especially during storm events, samplers can be seen filling bottles and manipulating meters to capture a snapshot of the river as it responds to surface runoff. Biological sampling helps to round out the picture, providing insight into what the river looks like between sampling events.
Land use and zoning information, along with field data, create the foundation for watershed modeling. These computer models, used in conjunction with input from the community about growth patterns, allow cities and counties to experiment with different future growth scenarios. Communities can see how water quality will respond to where and how development occurs. The Watershed Assessments Plans, the final product of these assessments, offer communities options so that they can take action to protect their water resources as they grow.


For information about how the University of Georgia can help your community conduct a Watershed Assessment, contact Hillary Smith at hsmith@engr.uga.edu or call (706) 542-0256.
You can also visit the Watershed Group's website at http://watershed.engr.uga.edu .

Valdosta, GA: UGA Expertise Works in Conjunction with Local Understanding
The City of Valdosta is a large community of about 48,000 people, located in south central Georgia. Two of Georgia's major rivers, the Little River and the Withlacoochee River, flow through Valdosta. The City of Valdosta has experienced a great increase in population over the last 10 years and is seeking to increase wastewater discharge at the City's Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment plant and to possibly construct a new plant in the near future.
The University of Georgia's Watershed Group, in conjunction with City Engineers and other Valdosta City Officials, chose the Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) because of its ability to model predominantly urban areas as well as the City of Valdosta's previous experience with SWMM. Modeling using SWMM is in progress, and the final round of data collection is underway. In addition to biological and habitat assessments and grab water quality sampling, storm event sampling is being conducted with sophisticated automated samplers and meters. These samples will be very important in determining exactly what kinds of pollutants are being flushed into streams during a heavy rain.

Lowndes County, GA: Big Rivers, Growing Populations, and a Variety of Land Uses
Lowndes County is a highly populated county of about 92,000 people (44,000 not including the City of Valdosta), located in south central Georgia. The county hosts some of Georgia's major rivers, the Withlacoochee River and the Little River. Lowndes County is growing rapidly and sought the expertise of The University of Georgia's Watershed Group to conduct the watershed assessment required to update the Lowndes Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility from 0.5 mgd to 2.0 mgd.
UGA's Watershed Group chose the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model Lowndes County's watersheds. SWAT had the ability to model the mix of urban and agricultural areas found in Lowndes County. According to collected data and modeling predictions from SWAT, Lowndes County's streams are in fairly good health. Of course, as with any urban setting, there is a need to implement measures that protect the streams from increasing urban runoff. The Watershed Group has submitted a Watershed Management Plan to Lowndes County for their approval and will soon be working with the County on the implementation phase of the project.

Thomasville, GA: A Proactive Approach to Watershed Management
The City of Thomasville is a medium-sized community of 19,100 people, located in south central Georgia. Several streams in the Thomasville area are being examined for the watershed assessment conducted by UGA's Watershed Group. The City of Thomasville is not seeking to update an NPDES permit at this time, but is looking ahead and planning to use the findings of the watershed assessment when the time comes to update their wastewater treatment plant. This watershed assessment will provide Thomasville with critical baseline information about watershed health and will enable the town to quickly and efficiently respond to increasing needs for greater discharge capacity.
The Thomasville project is in the beginning phases. Biological and habitat assessments have been conducted and some data has been collected. A pollutant loading model has not been selected for Thomasville, but many characteristics of the watersheds associated with Thomasville will be taken into account during model selection. Storm events will be sampled in the next phase of the project. The Watershed Group plans to install automated samplers at key areas in Thomasville in the near future.

Fort Valley, GA: Several Jurisdictions Working Together to Prepare for the Future
The City of Fort Valley watershed assessment project has just begun. Fort Valley is a small community in central Georgia and is the home of about 8,000 people. Fort Valley, the City of Byron, and the unincorporated areas of Peach County are exploring new options for wastewater treatment and have opted to conduct watershed assessments simultaneously. By working together to conduct a watershed assessment, these jurisdictions are able to analyze more options while increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the watershed assessment. The Watershed Group has done some stream surveys that will help determine the best locations for conducting biological and habitat assessments as well as water quality sampling.

Millen, GA: A Growing Agricultural Community in the Savannah River Watershed
The City of Millen is a small community of about 4,000 citizens, located in the central Savannah River area of eastern Georgia. The streams in the Millen area are slow-moving "black water" streams that discharge into the Ogeechee River just south of the Millen city limits. As the population of Millen grows, their need for wastewater discharge capacity continues to increase. The City of Millen initiated a watershed assessment to meet the requirements necessary for renewing their NPDES permit, which included a request for increased discharge from their wastewater treatment plant from 0.457 million gallons per day (mgd) to 1.00 mgd. Through contacts with one of the Watershed Group's corporate partners, Carter & Sloope, Inc, The University of Georgia's Watershed Group was invited to conduct a watershed assessment for Millen.
Pollutant loading modeling is an important component of a watershed assessment. To most accurately predict future pollutant loads on the streams in Millen, the Watershed Group chose the Annualized Agricultural Non Point Source Pollution Model (AnnAGNPS), which works well for areas that are primarily agricultural. Using collected data and predictions from the AnnAGNPS model, the Watershed Group provided Millen with recommendations to help maintain stream integrity as Millen continues to grow. Recommendations focused on the need to maintain and implement stream buffers and to adhere to erosion and sedimentation control guidelines. These suggestions, in conjunction with ongoing water quality sampling, biological and habitat assessment, and modeling will help Millen continue to protect stream quality.


Watershed Management Plans: the Key to Successful Implementation
A Watershed Management Plan integrates the data collection, biological and habitat assessments, water quality sampling, and modeling results. This plan, considered a legal document, will be part of the NPDES permit application. The document suggests best management practices (BMP's) to best ensure good stream health based on the findings of the watershed assessment and visual surveys of the watersheds themselves. The Watershed Management Plan is a unique document that incorporates the Watershed Group's recommendations with the specific needs of city or county officials, engineers, and other stakeholders. The incorporation of stakeholder suggestions is key to a successful Watershed Management Plan because local officials and citizens have the best understanding of what kind of management practices will work for their area.
The Watershed Management Plan also outlines a schedule for continued water quality sampling, biological and habitat assessments, as well as modeling. It is important that cities and counties adhere to the schedule so that the next time their watersheds need to be studied, much of the necessary data will already be in place. More importantly, ongoing water quality sampling and biological and habitat sampling allow a steady flow of information to citizens who would like to be involved in protecting rivers and streams.
Citizen involvement may be the most important factor in a successful implementation of a Watershed Management Plan. Ideas, concerns, and volunteer action by individual citizens and civic groups, are what makes the Watershed Management Plan truly come to life.

For information about how the University of Georgia can help your community conduct a Watershed Assessment, contact Hillary Smith at hsmith@engr.uga.edu or call (706) 542-0256.
You can also visit the Watershed Group's website at http://watershed.engr.uga.edu

 

Source Water Assessments
the fact-finding and technical analyses necessary to create plans for protecting our drinking water sources.
Safe drinking water is vital to the public and economic health of a community, and an essential part of this is protecting drinking water at its source. Protecting public water supplies is not limited to the reservoir or section of river that the drinking water is "pulled" from, but includes the entire watershed that catches rainfall and collects it in interconnected streams and lakes. Everything rainfall passes over, under, and through may potentially end up in the drinking water supply. The drinking water source watershed may be within the community's county, but more than likely, the source watershed will extend well beyond county boundaries, creating interesting technical and political challenges.
In the past, the main focus in providing safe drinking water has been on treatment, and very little, if any, energy has been put toward the prevention of contamination. Since the passage of the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, attention to the prevention of source water contamination has increased. Cleaner source water costs less to treat, decreases the chances of disease outbreak or toxic exposure, and simply makes good sense.
Source water protection prevents pollution from reaching the drinking water source. However, before the source water can be protected, the potential sources of pollution need to be identified.

A Source Water Assessment:

  • identifies potential pollutants of concern,
  • analyzes the risk to public health, and
  • provides data and analyses for creating a Source Water Protection Plan.

A Source Water Assessment couples cartography with hydrologic analysis to locate the pollutants present and discern the likelihood of human exposure. Source water protection is a proactive approach to protecting drinking water sources before they become contaminated.

For information about how the University of Georgia can help your community conduct a Sourcewater Assessment, contact Bobbie Vallotton at bvallott@engr.uga.edu or call (706) 542-0256

 

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UGA River Basin Center
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Phone: (706) 583-0463
Fax: (706) 583-0612

C. Ronald Carroll, Co-Director for Science - rcarroll@uga.edu
Laurie Fowler, Co-Director for Policy - lfowler@uga.edu

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