Water Water Everywhere - Not a Drop to Spare

The well-known Water Wars between Georgia, Alabama and Florida took a step forward recently due to the The U.S. Supreme Court securing metro Atlanta's claim to water from Lake Lanier. 

See this video from AJC for further explanation:

High court grants Georgia water-wars victory  | ajc.com 

 

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What is this dispute all about? It is a long standing dispute over water - one of our greatest resources.  Who gets how much and who controls when and where the water flows. Many politicians have noted the importance of this resource and have been quoted making the bold statement that the next major war will not be over oil, rights or religion, but over water:

• "The next war in the Middle East will be fought over water, not politics." Boutros BoutrosGhali, former UN Secretary General in 1985
  
• "The wars of the next century will be about water." Ismail Serageldin, former vice president of the World Bank in 1999
  
• "Fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future." Kofi Annan, formerU.N. Secretary-General in 2001 ---------------------------------------------- 

To learn more about the history of this important dispute, check out The Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper's website here: http://www.ucriverkeeper.org/tri-state-issues.php

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 Also be sure to check out this infograph!

 

 

http://www.princeton.edu/~ina/infographics/water.html

Chattahoochee - Third Most Endangered American River

According to American Rivers (a national environmental advocacy group), the Chattahoochee is the third most endangered river in the United States, falling behind the Green River (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado) at #2 and the Potomac River (Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Washington D.C.) at #1.

The Chattahoochee not only supplies water to Atlanta and surrounding areas, it offers recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat and is noted as one of America's best trout streams. Add to this its recent designation as our country’s first National Water Trail. The Chattahoochee has come a long way in terms of its health and clean water supply.  How is it that with all the river has going for it, it is considered endangered? 

The Chattahoochee seems to be a constant, ever flowing river. Most of us drive over it at some point during our daily commute. When we turn on our faucets, it's there. When we flush a toilet, it's there. When we water our plants, it's there. When we open a bottle of Coca-Cola, it's there. Think about how often we expect the River to be there for us - and, of course, it always is. But the truth is, the Chattahoochee might be reaching its limits of "being there". It just might have too great a demand, and not enough supply to please us.

 

The Chattahoochee is one of the most dammed rivers in the United States. A constant war between Georgia, Alabama and Florida is putting a lot of pressure on the River. It is being pulled in every direction, from multiple sources.  If I was the River, I would be pretty stressed out. I, personally, wouldn't seem so calm and relaxed all the time. This is why the river is endangered. American Rivers stated that the Chattahoochee was ranked third due to “New dams and reservoirs threatening to dry up the river flow.”  It can't fill its demand and the resolutions (build more dams, create more reservoirs), to many, are considered a bigger threat to the river, rather than a strong resolution. 

From their website: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must deny permits for these reservoirs and state decision makers must embrace more cost effective solutions, like water efficiency, in order to ensure a reliable water supply and healthy river for generations to come. 

http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/protecting-rivers/endangered-rivers/2012endangered-chattahoochee.html

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The River is a main player in our everyday lives, a constant source we rely on. With the controversy around the water and the River, is is a perfect time to get out and explore the river. Come see what it has to offer besides just running water -  wildlife, tranquility, peace of mind - a whole different world exist on the River. 

We would love to have you join us on a Canoe trip down the Chattahoochee. But, if not, we hope you find a way to make it down to the River just to enjoy it. We hope you find your own way to connect with it - whether that is venturing out with us in a canoe, walking along the shore looking for birds, sitting next to it to read a book or having a family picnic near it. This summer, take a moment to show your gratitude towards the river - to thank it for enriching our lives in more than one way. Get to understand the river, how it works and the pressure being put upon it. Make your own conclusions on what is best for the river and best for all of us - who are constantly connected to the River. 

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More resources:

http://www.ucriverkeeper.org/documents/ChattahoocheePressRelease.pdf

http://www.ajc.com/news/chattahoochee-makes-most-endangered-1437666.html

http://chattahoochee.org/documents/UCRCommentLetterGladesReservoir_000.pdf

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We hope to see you out on the River soon!

2012 Canoe Season Launches with Full Trips!

We have already had some wonderful canoe programs happen and it is not even June yet! The best part is most of the trips have been completely booked! We have already seen over 25 adults and well over 30 kids enjoying the river - and now we want to see you out on the River as well!

We know this canoe season will be filled with many exciting opportunities to explore the Chattahoochee and the watershed surrounding us. 

We have already seen beavers, great blue herons, deer and a whole list of song birds! 

Programs are booking fast - and we mean FAST - so if you want to get out on the river with the Chattahoochee Nature Center, paddle faster - the summer will be over before you know it!

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The Chattahoochee River, providing more than 70% of metro Atlanta’s water supply, is more than just a valuable resource. The river is home to an array of wildlife, unique plants and hundreds of places to explore. This summer, the Chattahoochee Nature Center invites you to join them on the river – to connect to the waters of the Chattahoochee in a new way.

Come enjoy your river with us on a 3 mile paddle exploring wetlands, cliffs and meandering through the marshland. Daily stresses seem to melt away as Great Blue Herons, Geese, Mallards, Kingfishers and Swallows fly from perch to perch overhead.  As you paddle, the sky slowly gives way to an amazing sunset filled with pinks, oranges, purples and blues. It is breath taking to see such a beautiful view so close to home and the big city.

Along the way, trained naturalists discuss various topics focused on the river: history, habitat, concerns, restoration and awareness. The trips are informative, relaxing and engaging. Get a group of friends together, bring the family or come solo. This is a unique way to get outdoors, make some memories and escape the sounds of city life.

Canoe trips occur every Saturday and Sunday evening from May through the second weekend of October.  Times vary depending on month. All equipment is provided.  Participants must be able to swim and paddle their own canoe, and be at least 6 years and up. No prior canoeing experience is necessary.  Pre-Registration is required.

This year, CNC is offering specialized trips such as Date Night, Private Tours and Morning Birding Canoe Trips. See website for more details! 

http://www.chattnaturecenter.org/canoe-programs.html

2011 Season Comes to an End but the River Flows On

October 16th marked the end of the 2011 Canoe Season at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. However, we still encourage everyone to explore their river and their watershed in the passing months. It is amazing to see the river month by month, even week by week. Flowers bloom, birds migrate, frogs come and go, trees change and water levels rise and fall. It is never the same trip twice. Even with 8 different guides leading trips and numerous participants joining us - no trip ever saw the same things in the same way.

Some highlights from this season include: 

• New early morning birding trips - a huge success and many a feathered friend was sighted and heard.
  
• New date night program for adults only - we had two scheduled this season. Unfortunately one was rained out, but the other one in July received raved reviews and it is certainly something we will make happen again next season!
  
• Many groups and organizations joined us out on the river: REI, Zoo Atlanta and both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America.
  
• We were honored to have John Lemley of NPR's City Cafe ride out in a canoe with some of our guides.
  
• We received great support from local publications to help us get the word out about our programs: NPR, Roswell Patch, AJC and the City of Roswell
  
• Our guides received training throughout the season including a tour of Morgan Falls Dam and an evening hike at Gold Branch Park of the Chattahoochee National  Recreation Area.
  
• Sightings of great blue herons, beavers, ospreys, red-winged blackbirds, mallards, geese, deer, cormorants, song birds, butterflies and even a BALD EAGLE!
  
• BEAVER FEAST Sighted!
  
  

Besides ALL of that, a total of 615 participants made their way out to explore the Chattahoochee River and a total of 45 weekend trips over just 5 months occurred! 

If you had the opportunity to join CNC on a canoe program this season, thank you and we hope to see you next year!

If you did not make it out on the river with us, no worries! 2012 Canoe Season will begin in May 2012 and run through mid-October 2012. 

We will continue to improve our programs and hope to offer you more chances to connect, conserve and enjoy your river come 2012!

Until then, hope to see you out on the river or at CNC soon!

Water Footprint - What's Yours?

We have all heard the phrase "What's your carbon footprint?" by now. A carbon footprint measures the toll our daily activities take on the environment - relating to greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere on a da day-to-day basis such as burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, transportation etc.

Well, have you heard of a WATER Footprint? 

From National Geographic: 

We live in a watery world, with the average American lifestyle fueled by nearly 2,000 gallons of H2O a day. What may come as a surprise is that very little of that—only five percent—runs through toilets, taps, and garden hoses at home. Nearly 95 percent of your water footprint is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy, and services you rely on. The more we save, the more water we leave for healthy ecosystems and a sustainable future.

Want to find out your Water Footprint?

CLICK HERE to go to National Geogrpahics Water Footprint Calculator. 

After you find out your results, take the pledge to reduce your water consumption or click around the site to learn ways to save water and money while discover interesting water facts.

and for more fun try out the Water Wiz Quiz here!

Water Water Everywhere - So Few Drops to Drink

Water is the soul of life. Just imagine one day or even just one morning without water. Can you? Showers, brushing teeth, making coffee, filling a water bottle, watering plants, washing hands, flushing toilets, even the soda at lunch is processed with water - even the food we eat.  

And maybe just imagine if the water was there, right outside your door in a stream or river, but it would make you sick, putting your health, life and family at jeopardy. 

We are lucky, here in the Chattahoochee watershed and in the US, to have water to make life easier, more enjoyable and healthy. You would think there would be enough to go around - but there isn't. The Chattahoochee River alone is one resource whose demand is greater than its supply. 

Here is a fact from chattahoochee.org, the website for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper:

The upper Chattahoochee River Basin supplies more than 70% of metro Atlanta's water for drinking and other needs--an annual average of about 450 million gallons per day. 

That's a lot of water. Check out the graphic from Good.is about the supply of healthy water. 

Click here for larger image!

 

Clean water supply versus demand  is a problem facing all nations and all people.  The next time you drive along the river, turn on a faucet or get an ice cube out of the freezer, think about the river and how it supports us and the way we live. It offers us recreation, sanitation, enjoyment, power, clean water to drink and more. You Go Chattahoochee and Thanks for your hard work!!

Through the Eyes of a Birder - a Guest Post!

We recently led a birding canoe trip on an early Saturday morning. It was a fantastic morning and many a bird were spotted and heard. A participant followed up the trip with writing a post about his experience, as well as one of the guides, Alicia. A special thanks Stacy Z, our master birder on the trip, for sharing her knowledge of everything feathered!

Read all about John and Alicia's adventures:

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From Jon, River Guest:

We set out on an adventure, the first ever for CNC. Two fearless females lead us in a flotilla of canoes, both brimming with enthusiasm and knowledge that's contagious.

The mission: To see wildlife - BIRDS! The means: By paddling down, around and back up a 3-mile stretch of the Chattahoochee. This is the maiden voyage for CNC's birdwatching canoe trips. The outing is a great success. The early morning waters of the river are cool, calm and inviting.

Alicia and Stacy are our guides. They spot an osprey that soars over yonder, prospecting for fish in the river. We ogle and ooh and ahh. We hug the shady Creek bank, floating with the current.

Red tailed and red shouldered hawks enter the scene. Their aerial antics entertain us. Their calls so resonate. They invigorate us.

As we near our first dip into quieter waters, we learn of the river's length, in a short gunnel-to-gunnel talk.

Into the backwaters, and we are canopied by overlapping treetops. It feels like we are waking up in a bayou of peace and tranquility.

The river's shallow, clear bottom reveals footprints of a great blue heron. Then, on the bank, there it stands in all its majesty. Cautiously, it flies off as we approach. In flight, the heron is even more awesome. No matter that it's leaving us.

As we paddle softly on, a family of geese paddles their way through a pretty, little shortcut between two islands. We see them from the rear, but up close. The pass-through seems made just for them.

Eagle-eyed, Stacy steers our eyes to a red-headed woodpecker way atop a dead tree's apex. Both the spotting and the bird are amazing.

Beautiful gold finches flit across our path. Their fast wings add a splash of colour to brighten the day further.

We stop to learn about the wonderful, thriving cattails.

We swing over to the base of the cliffs. That low angle view up the sheer rock is quite impressive. So is the tree that somehow finds a way to grow from the outcropping.

What's that! The youngest in our group tells his mom there's something in the water. A swift undulation reveals a snake crossing the river. Alicia and Stacy know it's a black rat snake. Non-venomous and determined to get to the other side, even though it is not a water-bound creature.

We explore a narrow channel on the way back up the river. The current is fine. We don't face much resistance. Into the channel which takes us past a private dock that surprises. The channel is very quiet, full of flora, and we wind our way back out to the river's main body.

We come up on a clump of bushes and shrubs that crackle and chirp with melody. A shy, white-eyed vireo's song is unmistakable. It conceals itself from view.

In plain sight, as we cruise back to the take-out point, are the vultures. Flying together are three black and one turkey vulture. We're all relieved they seem uninterested in us.

Then, to top things off, a broad winged hawk swoops into our patch of sky. A rare sighting for this neck of the woods indeed.

We are all quite satisfied, and our arms and shoulders got a bit of a workout. I come away wanting more and wondering: Were we watching them or were they watching us?

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From Alicia, River Guide:

This morning was a trip I had been anxiously waiting for - a bird focused canoe trip. On my way in at 6:45AM, fog covered the river and I was nervous that it would inhibit our ability to spot birds. In the wetlands along the corner of Willeo and Azalea, I spotted Great Egrets and even immature Little Blue Herons (they are small and white, dark bill and legs), and my hopes to see some great feathered friends rose.

Before we could even get to the canoe landing, Stacy stopped along the boardwalk for some birdspotting! By the time we did make it to the landing, the fog was gone and the water was clear and smooth! The paddling plan was to head downstream and take the route over to the Gold Branch backwater, head back towards the cliffs, and then explore a new channel that we had heard was a beautiful spot.

We then went through the wetlands and toward the cliffs, and since the water was clear we could see heron tracks in the muck below the shallow water. Witchity-witchity-witchity sang the Common Yellowthroat. We paddled all the way up to the cliffs and looked upstream to see two more Osprey hovering - literally. They have a wingbeat pattern that allows them to stay in one place so they can search for fish below. Vultures - both Turkey and Black - rode the morning's thermals up to soar high in the sky. We paddled back upstream, right along the streambank and got a look at Eastern Phoebes, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, White-eyed Vireos, and of course a Northern Cardinal. Then we took a "road less traveled" - a little channel that took us through blooms, and birches, and a few briars. We had heard from Zelia - another Master Birder - that this would be a nice place to explore. I was confident enough with our participant's paddling skills to take them into this narrow waterway. Although it did not add any birds to our list, it was wonderful! Dragonfly haven and a  huge yellow-bellied slider all were hidden back there. 

As we turned to head across the river and back to our boardwalk, a final, awesome raptor soared above. A Broad-winged Hawk circled us and we were able to get a really great look at it - it's amazing to think that this bird, much larger than many of our long distance migrants, travels thousands of miles twice a year. Birds really do amaze me.

I think that counting all birds seen and a few heard, we encountered 27 species on Stacy and Alicia's wild bird tour. I am really looking forward to August, and Stacy suggested a birding trip closer to migration, later in September/October. 
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If you are interested in joining Alicia and Stacy on the next Birding Canoe Trip, you can pre-register online here: 

http://chattnaturecenter.org/river-canoe-trips.html

The next birding trip is August 27th and we are working to find a good date in October to add an additional trip!