Georgia Water Coalition honors McIntosh County group as ‘water hero’

Caption

A group of hooded pitcher plants in the Okefenokee Swamp in October.

Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/Catchlight Local/Report for America

Jasmine Wright, The Current

A McIntosh County citizen group that’s fought to reduce herbicide use and an oyster hatchery on Skidaway Island are among the 13 entities the Georgia Water Coalition recognized Tuesday for their positive impacts on the state’s waterways. 

“Don’t Spray McIntosh County” is a citizen-led initiative that ended the county’s practice of spraying herbicides to manage vegetation along its roadside rights of way. Working with the county commission, advocates developed a management plan that emphasizes limited mowing and protects the county’s streams and wetlands. Formed in 2022, the initiative’s organizers are already seeing the difference they’ve made.

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A cloudless sulphur feeds on a Catesby’s lily along a McIntosh County roadside.

Credit: Christa Hayes

“After two years we’re seeing the results this fall,” said McIntosh resident Mark Yeager, who leads the initiative that’s garnered about 300 supporters. “It’s been spectacular in the ditches along the roadside, both the abundance and the variety of the pollinators and other rare species.”

Among the roadside surprises are carnivorous plants.

“Hundreds of pitcher plants have been seen that have never been seen before in this area”, said McIntosh resident Bill Lewis, who set up the initiative’s Facebook page.

Yeager said he hopes to spread the effort to more coastal counties. He also wants to sit down with Georgia Power and the Georgia Department of Transportation, which still spray along the rights of way they maintain in McIntosh.

“We have models for both that we could share with them so that we wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Joe Cook, creator and coordinator of Paddle Georgia, noted that the McIntosh group showed the power of one individual.

“One citizen looked into it and spoke out and created an advocacy group that  changed how things are done, and so never underestimate the power of individuals,” he said.

The Georgia Water Coalition is an alliance of more than 250 organizations committed to ensuring that water is managed equitably for all Georgians and protected for future generations.

Caption

Director of the Shellfish Lab, Tom Bliss, checks the specially formulated algae grown as a food source for oyster larvae as they are raised for farming.

Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight Local/Report for America

In its seventh Clean 13 report released Tuesday, the coalition also honored the Shellfish Research Lab at the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, a facility that has been cultivating a comeback for oysters, which filter the water as they feed. The lab is now breeding oysters that are sold to commercial aquaculture operations, and working to restore natural oyster reefs and populations along the Georgia coast. 

Laura Solomon, a co-founder of the Tybee Oyster Company and someone working closely with the lab, said that while all East Coast oysters are the same species, Georgia is working on an adapted oyster with several specific traits such as survivability, color, and ability to withstand extreme tides and heat. Solomon also highlighted the recycling shell initiative that is bringing restored reefs back to the Georgia coast. 

Further south and slightly inland, Rena Ann Peck, the executive director of the Georgia Rivers Network, recognized the Conservation Fund’s $60 million purchase that protected 8,000 acres adjacent to the Okefenokee Swamp from a mine proposal. A statewide coalition of 40 conservation organizations led efforts against the mine, ending the 7-year fight. 

“The $60 million deal was funded by philanthropists,” Peck said. “We are so thankful to them, but the collective efforts of dozens of advocacy groups, key leaders in government, business and media and hundreds of thousands of citizens also made this deal possible.”

These other entities were also considered “Water Heroes” for their efforts: 

• Paddle4Tomorrow (Fulton County), a nonprofit based in Alpharetta introduces youth to hiking and kayaking experiences in local and state parks, operating on the philosophy that in order for future generations to take action to protect nature they must first know, appreciate and understand it.
• Park Creek Elementary School (Whitfield County). When federally-protected fish were discovered in creeks on Park Creek Elementary School’s 67-acre campus in Dalton, educators, in conjunction with multiple partners, embarked on an effort to use the rare fish not only to teach children about wildlife habitat, but to restore portions of the campus to better protect the charismatically colorful fish known as the tri-spot darter.
• Baggett Elementary School (Gwinnett County) The outdoor classroom at this Lawrenceville elementary school has transformed learning. The students there raise trout, chickens, rabbits, herbs and vegetables and study the workings of an on-site solar array to understand science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
• Partnership for Innovation (Fulton County) At the college level, the Partnership for Innovation housed at Georgia Tech connects summer interns and university-level researchers with non-profit organizations working to protect Georgia’s water.
• Lake Burton Civic Association (Rabun County) At one of North Georgia’s most iconic reservoirs, the Lake Burton Civic Association maintains an active water quality and bacteria monitoring program to track and identify pollution on their beloved Rabun County reservoir.
• Upson County Environmental and Governmental Transparency (Upson County) In an example of citizens stepping up to fight for their community, residents of Upson County have coalesced around a battle to stop a proposed plastics recycling facility near Thomaston.
• City Serve Augusta (Augusta-Richmond County) In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, volunteers with City Serve Augusta became heroes by assisting dozens of families in Augusta-Richmond County with hurricane cleanup efforts. The work was a continuation of more than a decade of service projects that have benefitted the community and the Savannah River.
• Georgia Flow Incentive Trust In Southwest Georgia where the farming community relies on irrigation from surface and groundwater and where water scarcity has threatened both farms and federally protected aquatic species, the Georgia Flow Incentive Trust is finding solutions.
• Arcadis (Cobb County) Arcadis, a multinational environmental engineering firm with offices in Atlanta, partnered with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper to develop a computer model that could be used to identify the best locations to place trash traps in urban streams.
• REI Co-op (DeKalb, Cobb, Fulton, Athens-Clarke counties) A major player in the outdoor recreation retail scene in Georgia since 1990, REI Co-op supports local nonprofits with grants, product donations and a product loaner program that helps get first-time campers “in the woods.” 

The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current GA staff. This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.