Enter your design for UCR's member T-shirt contest! (Here's how.)
UCR wants you to design our official membership T-shirt! From Jan. 1-31, all entrees can be submitted for the contest by uploading a jpeg of your design to the wall of "UCR's T-Shirt Design Contest" page on Facebook.
The three designs that receive the most “Likes” will advance to the finalist round and will be voted on by UCR and a panel of celebrity Atlanta judges. The winner will be announced Feb. 6, 2012.
The winning designer 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 your winning tees!
To learn more details, including contest rules, visit here; details are located within the "Info" link on the left. And remember: Remember, the contest ends Jan. 31. (Any questions: email dsimmons@ucriverkeeper.org.) Good luck!
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, starting at 1 p.m. 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.) You can visit the event page here, and purchase tickets here.
Airport withdraws plan to clear-cut river, stream buffers
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has withdrawn a variance it had issued to Fulton County-Charlie Brown Airport that had authorized the clear-cutting of 17 acres of river and stream buffer alongside the Chattahoochee River, Sandy Creek, a major tributary to the river, and 15 smaller tributaries. This action was in response to an appeal by UCR.
“We agree that the airport needs to be operated according to all air safety regulations, but the real damage that will occur to the environment must be mitigated,” UCR Executive Director Sally Bethea said. “For now, the trees that line the banks of the Chattahoochee River and Sandy Creek near Charlie Brown Airport will continue to help keep these important waterways clean.”
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.
UCR wants you to design our official membership T-shirt! From Jan. 1-31, all entrees can be submitted for the contest by uploading a jpeg of your design to the wall of "UCR's T-Shirt Design Contest" page on Facebook.
Get your tickets today for our 
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has withdrawn a variance it had issued to Fulton County-Charlie Brown Airport that had authorized the clear-cutting of 17 acres of river and stream buffer alongside the Chattahoochee River, Sandy Creek, a major tributary to the river, and 15 smaller tributaries. This action was in response to an appeal by UCR.
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. 
