Watershed Update

Buzz Williams

Cleaning Up Stekoa Creek
Progress is One Step Closer

The City of Clayton's Request for Proposals (RFP) for fixing the city's leaking sewage collection system, which is the main source of pollution in Stekoa Creek and the Chattooga River, is now "out of the chute." The RFP was issued for bids in mid-January, and has a closing deadline of March 1st.
Raw sewage flowed down a neighborhood street in Clayton during a winter 2008 sewage leak.Chattooga Conservancy members, their associates, and others who are involved in the civil engineering field and who would like to review the RFP can request a copy from Clayton City Hall at tel. 706-782-4512.

The Chattooga Conservancy chairs the "Fix Sewer Group" that prepared the draft RFP that was approved by the Clayton City Council. The anticipated deliverables from the RFP will be the establishment of short and long term plans for the work to fix Clayton's leaking sewage collection system., and a prioritized schedule of actions along with a line item budget. The City of Clayton issuing this RFP is a milestone step, which has the potential to make great strides forward in improving Stekoa Creek's water quality.

Woodland Savannah Restoration

The Chattooga River Ranger District is now the official name for the combined territories of two neighboring ranger districts in the northeast Georgia portion of the Chattahoochee National Forest that previously were separate entities called the Tallulah Ranger District of Clayton, and the Chattooga Ranger District based in Clarkesville.

The Chattooga River Ranger District is planning a 1,000-acre ecological restoration project in the lower end of the Chattooga River watershed, on the Water Gauge Road. The potential project is on the Georgia side of the Chattooga River, just outside the Wild & Scenic River Corridor above the Five Falls area.

The plan is to restore a woodland savannah and a wetland bog in the project area. This would require thinning out trees on about 500 acres to leave the largest diameter Shortleaf pine and oak trees; prescribed fire on 1,000 acres implemented on a rotating schedule of burning once every 3-5 years; and mountain bog enhancement through mechanical treatments on about 10 acres.

The project area has already suffered greatly from poor agricultural and timber harvesting practices since the turn of the 20th century. Historical records do indeed show that woodland savannahs and wetlands were key components of the original landscape. The Chattooga Conservancy has expressed an interest in working with the Forest Service on this project, since it is directly aligned with our purpose to restore the natural ecological integrity of Chattooga River watershed ecosystems. In our comments to the Forest Service, we also urged more emphasis on old growth restoration, road obliteration along the Chattooga River corridor, addressing the effects of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, and adhering to the principles of conservation biology with attention to potential wildlife corridors. One interesting phase of the project is to get rid of non-native, Loblolly pine plantations originally planted by the Forest Service. We told them not to do that! We'll be keeping a close watch on this one and will keep you posted.

Water, Water Everywhere...

The City of Clayton, Georgia, is a small northeast Georgia community of 5,000 people, and has the 3rd highest rate of water loss in the state of Georgia from its municipal water supply delivery system. Leaks in the city's water lines amounted to 14,541,279 gallons of water during the month of August in 2008, during the height of the worst drought in recorded history for the area. The city's percent of unaccounted for water has been estimated by city officials to be 50%.

In monetary terms, this water loss amounts to nearly three quarters of a million dollars per year. Clearly, there is a need to address this situation through a water leak detection and repair program, which would in turn lessen the demand on the area's springs, streams, and rivers by saving significant quantities of water (that would naturally recharge ground water supplies, especially during times of drought). As a bonus, the funds recovered by fixing the city's leaking water supply system could be a future source of revenue to maintain and repair the aging sewage system infrastructure in the City of Clayton, which is an infamous source of fecal coliform pollution in Stekoa Creek, a major polluted tributary to the National Wild & Scenic Chattooga River.

A 10% reduction in water loss by the City of Clayton would save 3,882,063 gallons of water per month, worth about $200,000 in revenue recovery per year. City records of water line repairs clearly show where most leaks in the system are prone to occur. These are usually older, galvanized lines that are in dire need of replacement. We believe that by replacing these older lines as a matter of immediate priority, the city could recover at least 10% of unaccounted for water.

The City of Clayton has some very limited funds that could be directed to the first phase of an effective water leak detection and repair program, that would begin to target replacing water lines with a known history of the greatest leaks. If the City of Clayton were the recipient of desperately needed federal stimulus dollars for green infrastructure, the city could conceivably obtain more leak detection equipment and the training to find water leaks, and could prioritize and implement replacements and repairs accordingly. The estimated recovery of lost water in the City of Clayton within one year could successfully convince the city to plan to continue its water recovery program, while yielding new revenues for the city's sorely needed sewage system infrastructure repairs.

Silver Slip Falls Development
On Hold, For Now

Remember A. I. G., the big insurance firm that made headlines because of bad investment strategies? In the latter part of 2008, the Chattooga Conservancy learned that A. I. G. had received an "expedited permit" to build a new subdivision at their recently purchased Millstone Inn property near Silver Slip Falls at the headwaters of the Chattooga River just outside of Cashiers, North Carolina. The permit would allow A.I.G. to use a "spray irrigation" system to dispense with effluent wastewater from the planned development.

The Chattooga River is classified as Outstanding Resource Waters in this headwaters section, which does not allow permits for new wastewater treatment plants. A.I.G. apparently got around this restriction by applying for a spray irrigation system, which is not covered by the Clean Water Act. In other words, A.I.G. found a loophole. When the Chattooga Conservancy questioned water quality regulators in North Carolina about the "expedited permit," we were told that when is it was clear to the agency that a project will probably meet all permit requirements, and if the applicant pays an extra $10,000, the applicant can obtain an expedited permit without an opportunity for public comment.

Given the steep terrain and erodible soils on the development site, it is highly suspicious that this project was permitted, especially without opportunity for public comment. Currently, the project seems to be on hold due to A.I.G.'s economic downfall. In the meantime, the Chattooga Conservancy is working to gather support for having state officials to close the obvious loophole in laws, to protect water quality in the Chattooga River. We will also be monitoring the proposed development to see if the property is sold and restarted under the same permit. If so, there is an opportunity to request a public hearing. In this case the bad economy may give us a chance to make things better. Stay tuned.

Sustainable Agriculture

A bumper crop of "Chattooga Select," a strain of locally grown white corn, is ready for storage in the corn crib.The Chattooga Conservancy should start calling this our "Native Crops Project," because that's what it truly is. Native crops have evolved in a particular place and have therefore adapted to certain conditions of soil, location and climate. Native crops are usually more drought-resistant, with the added benefit that locally grown crops can be more easily marketed locally.

Two years ago the Chattooga Conservancy was given 20 ears of corn by a Rabun County farmer whose family had grown the corn here "as long as anybody can remember" as a high production crop for food and livestock. This past 2008 growing season we had a bumper crop, that thrived on the rich, black bottom land along Warwoman Creek. Use of the land for this project was generously donated by Lewis and Carol Kilby.

The best seed from the 2007 crop was saved, and the field was replanted this past spring and augmented by only organic fertilizer. On New Year's Day, we finished harvesting another outstanding crop of full-kerneled corn on ears as long as 18 inches. We had also shared the seeds with another local farmer, who had excellent results as well. Of course, one of the reasons for such success with our corn crop during the extreme drought of the '08 growing season is because Lewis and Carol's bottom land on Warwoman Creek is so rich and moist. Nonetheless, this demonstration project is on its way to proving to a lot of folks that native seed just does better in places where they evolved to grow. It also helps spread the message that local agriculture, organically grown, can produce more and better food, and may even reduce the consumption of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Chattooga Old Town Gets Historical Marker

The new historical marker for the Chattooga Old Town site is located at the Russell House farmstead on Highway 28 in South Carolina.The small Cherokee village that once stood on the flood plain across from the confluence of the Chattooga's West Fork and the main Chattooga River was abandoned in the 1740's, after its population had been devastated by small pox. This site, known as Chattooga Old Town, was excavated and studied by University of Tennessee archaeologist Dr. Gerald Schroedel between 1991 and 1994, with a grant from Passports In Time and in cooperation with the Forest Service, to discover more about the history of the village.

Chattooga Old Town, at the time of its demise, was populated by about 140 people. It is a very important site because the village was decimated and abandoned before European influence changed Cherokee culture. The Chattooga Old Town site was recently recognized with a historical marker, which is located on Highway 28 at the old Russell House farmstead on the South Carolina side of the Chattooga River.

On a related note, the Chattooga Conservancy is encouraging the Forest Service to restore native river cane to the bottom land near Chattooga Old Town. Restoring native cane to the old Indian site would help provide habitat for many sensitive species, and the river cane could also be used by Cherokee artisans to make their traditional river cane baskets.

Woodall Shoals Road Paved

The Andrew Pickens Ranger District of the Sumter National Forest has paved a section of the Woodall Shoals Road in South Carolina, which leads to a major access point on Section IV of the Chattooga River. The middle section of the road crosses private land and was paved this fall by the Forest Service, who has a right of way across the property. Speed bumps were also installed. The reason given by the Forest Service for the paving was to "eliminate erosion" problems. Meanwhile, local residents have been complaining for years about speeding traffic on the road, and it seems that the paving had more to do with this than erosion control, since much worse erosion problems exist further down the road, in the steep riparian area near the parking lot immediately above the Chattooga River.

Bird Walk

Friday, April 10th

Join expert birder Jack Johnston

on the Chattooga Conservancy's annual

bird watching expedition.

Jack will lead a short hike into the woods to look for Neotropical migratory birds, sharing his wealth of knowledge about bird songs and distinctive markings to identify the birds heard and seen on the expedition.

Meet at 8 a.m. sharp at the Ingles parking lot, on Highway 441 in Clayton. Gather over on the side of the parking lot closest to the Community Bank building. Bring binoculars.

For more information,
call 706-782-6097.