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Title: Results from six years of community-based volunteer water quality monitoring by the Upper Oconee Watershed Network

Author
item LITTLE, E - UGA
item EGGERT, S - UGA
item WENNER, D - UGA
item RASMUSSEN, T - UGA
item CONNERS, D - UGA
item Fisher, Dwight

Submitted to: Georgia Water Resources Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/30/2007
Publication Date: 3/30/2007
Citation: Little, E., Eggert, S., Wenner, D., Rasmussen, T., Conners, D., Fisher, D.S. 2007. Results from six years of community-based volunteer water quality monitoring by the Upper Oconee Watershed Network. In: Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference. Paper 6.2.4.

Interpretive Summary: A USDA-ARS Scientist located at the J. Phil Campbell, Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center in Watkinsville Georgia partnered with University of Georgia researchers and a volunteer organization known as the Upper Oconee Watershed Network (UOWN) to assist in testing water quality in the Upper Oconee Watershed of Georgia. In over six years of cooperative work the public has been involved in sample collection and stream monitoring that has resulted in isolating and remediation of various sources of pollution within the watershed. A combination of rural, suburban, and urban stream segments have been sampled. Urban steams were noted for high conductivity and fecal indicator organisms relative to rural streams. Future work in which the volunteer organization partners with the Athens-Clarke County government for identification and remediation of impaired stream segments is planned.

Technical Abstract: The Upper Oconee Watershed Network (UOWN), an Athens, GA-based non-profit volunteer organization, was organized in 2000 with the mission to improve water quality in the Upper Oconee River basin through community-based advocacy, monitoring, and education. Quarterly monitoring of both reference and impaired stream segments form the basis for achieving all three of UOWN’s mission objectives. UOWN has developed a model for engaging the public in quarterly monitoring and in the larger annual River Rendezvous events. Quarterly monitoring not only tracks long-term trends in targeted stream segments, but also has resulted in the discovery and remediation of acute incidences of pollution. Six years of data collection revealed high levels of contamination in urban streams as evidenced by high conductivity and bacterial numbers, and potential limitations when using quarterly water quality monitoring to assess the health of Piedmont streams.