Annual Report
July 2006 – June 2007
This has been a year of
partnerships and cross connections, as SRWA has worked to build its
network of like-minded members
and establish strong relationships
with the many agencies and community groups.
Education
- Coordinated a training
on visual assessment that was attended by staff from the
stormwater management programs of Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Lavergne,
Rutherford County and Metro Nashville, as well as TWRA and the
Cumberland River Compact;
- Provided water
monitoring equipment to three public schools in Rutherford County and
Cannon County to seed a program for regular stream monitoring;
- Sponsored
“Partnerships and Opportunities,” a program that allowed us to learn
from the highly successful Little River Watershed Association;
- Set up our educational booth at the Dog
Days and Earth Day events in Murfreesboro and participated in programs
with the City of Smyrna.
- Sponsored a very well-attended program
meeting in Cannon County to hear from a panel of representatives from
related community organizations
River Restoration
- Implemented our first
streambank
restoration project in partnership with the Arts Center of Cannon
County;
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- <>Participated
in a
pilot project to
do a model stream restoration along the Murfreesboro Greenway.
River Activities
- Gave more than 100
people an
opportunity to get on the water at our second annual Boat Day in July,
in partnership with Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation;
- Conducted a visual stream
assessment of the entire Lytle Creek corridor in cooperation with the
City of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County;
- Conducted a cleanup on Lytle
Creek to remove large trees and brush from the floodway;
- Worked with staff
of the
Discovery Center to remove trash from the Murfree Spring wetlands;
- Assisted with cleanup
projects of
the cities of Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Lavergne;
- Held a Fall Color
Float on the East
Fork.
Networking and
Partnerships
- Participated in
discussions with
the City of Murfreesboro concerning its Water Quality Protection Area
ordinance;
- Met with a diverse
group of people
in Cannon County to talk about land protection on Short Mountain
- Met with state
officials and
representatives of watershed organizations from around the state to
consider best practices for water monitoring;
- Attended meetings of the Cumberland
River Compact's Basin Council;
- Met with the Rutherford County MS4
stormwater programs to learn about the advantages of pervious concrete;
- Met with the Rutherford
Environmental Education Consortium to learn about rain gardens;
- Attended a press conference held by
the Tenn. Department of Conservation and Tenn. Department of
Transportation to announce the
creation of a watershed signage
project for Tennessee interstates – and to display the signs for the
Stones River Watershed.
Funding
- Successfully
completed, in
September 2006, a two-year grant program funded by the Greater
Nashville Regional Council. Among other activities, it supported
our
“Partnerships and Opportunities” program;
- Successfully completed
projects
funded through a grant from the World Wildlife Fund, including our
Cannon County stream restoration project and outreach to schools for
water monitoring;
- Continued to work toward completion
of a multi-year project under contract with the Tennessee Department of
Agriculture to assess Lytle Creek and propose remedies for its status
as an impaired waterway;
- Received a second round of funding
from the World Wildlife Fund to coordinate a watershed summit on Short
Mountain in September, 2007.
We are grateful to our funders, our
partners and our members for support during the past year. We look
forward to an eventful 2007-2008.