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    Stakeholders collaborate for good health of Stones River watershed

    Stakeholders collaborate for good health of Stones River watershed

    Photo By Leon Roberts | Kim Laster, stream biologist with the TDEC Division of Water Resources, shows several...... read more read more

    MURFREESBORO, TN, UNITED STATES

    10.20.2014

    Story by Leon Roberts 

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District

    MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Federal, state, local and private interests met at Patterson Park Community Center today to collaborate and work together for a healthier Stones River watershed.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District officials participated and set up a booth to feature past projects and studies the Corps has conducted within the watershed, and passed out information describing how the Corps works with local communities and partners to develop water resources.

    Amy Redmond, acting public outreach coordinator for the Nashville District; Tim Higgs, chief of the Nashville District Planning Branch’s Environmental Section; and J. Percy Priest Lake Park Ranger Amber Jones interacted with the public and other representatives involved with the Stones River watershed in Cannon, Davidson, Rutherford and Wilson counties.

    Redmond spoke to the other participants about the Corps’ product lines, which include program and project management; planning; environmental services; emergency management and disaster recovery; engineering, design and construction; procurement and contracting; real estate services; operations and maintenance services; regulatory; and geographic information systems.

    “It was an opportunity for us to share how we can support communities and the watershed, and to collaborate with other organizations,” Redmond said.

    The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation organized the event to help agencies and the public connect with each other and to share information, develop relationships and communicate.

    Meredith Benton, regional director for external affairs with TDEC’s Nashville Field Office, said when agencies like the Corps of Engineers and communities engage each other it is naturally easier for them to work together as proponents of water quality.

    “Not everybody knows everything that’s going on in the watershed. Even the organizations involved may not know about another project. What we found is that when they get together they can talk about the work that they are doing, find opportunities to work together, and collaborate as well as find other ways to engage community members and the work that is going on in their watershed,” Benton said.

    The Stones River Watershed is approximately 921 square miles and drains into the Cumberland River. It provides local communities drinking water, water for agriculture, habitat for plants and animals, as well as recreational opportunities like swimming, fishing and boating.

    The public visited more than 25 agency and organization booths at the event to learn about the watershed and how the many organizations support water quality. Kids stopped by the Corps booth and Jones provided them information about water safety and encouraged them to wear their life jackets when playing in the water. Other agencies also stressed the importance of being good stewards of the environment.

    Kim Laster, stream biologist with the TDEC Division of Water Resources, retrieved samples of aquatic life from the Stones River nearby so young people attending the event could learn how the presence or absence of macro invertebrate indicate the level of water quality in the watershed.

    “The animals that live in the creek are very specific to how much pollution they can tolerate,” Laster explained. “And some like StoneFly and Caddisfly can live in very clean water with very little pollution. As they start disappearing you will have other species move in that can live in more polluted water.”

    Laster said people can have positive and negative impacts on water quality, so educating people and encouraging the collaboration between the government, communities and residents within the watershed helps to improve water quality.

    At the conclusion of the event, Higgs noted how the Corps of Engineers’ involvement in the event served to promote a shared responsibility for the Stones River watershed.

    “It was good to hear what other agencies are doing and learn about things you are not aware of,” Higgs said. “This is a good mix of local groups and university and state and volunteer agencies, as well as some of the federal agencies. It’s a great event to raise awareness of the various groups and an opportunity to establish partnerships.”

    (The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.20.2014
    Date Posted: 10.21.2014 16:36
    Story ID: 145705
    Location: MURFREESBORO, TN, US

    Web Views: 76
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN