News
from the Stones River Watershed Association: July 2005
1. Board and membership meeting July 28.
2. Recreational float on
Stewarts Creek in Smyrna, August
6.
3. Low Impact Development
webcast on Aug. 4.
4. Report from our Annual
meeting.
5. New Executive Board
members
6. Boat Day was a huge
success!
7. Visual Stream Assessment
Training
8. New grant from River
Network
9. Water We Here For is in
transition. Volunteer
opportunity.
1. Executive Board
meeting Thursday, July 28 at
the
home of President
Beth Chesson, beginning at 6:30 pm.
All members are invited and
encouraged
to attend. This meeting will mark
the first for our newly elected Board
(see related news in the report
from our Annual Meeting). An agenda
with
directions is attached. We’re
between meeting places right now because
our
usual MTSU space is no longer
available. We’ll hope to have a permanent
home again by the August meeting.
2. Float Stewarts
Creek. Outings chair Heloise
Shilstat
and SRWA Vice
President Toby Francis have planned
a fun day on a cool, clean stream
that
runs right through the heart of
Smyrna. Here’s Heloise’s
description:
“The Stones River Watershed
Association will sponsor a three to four
hour
paddle on the cold water of
Stewart’s Creek from Belaire (off
McNickle,
east of Lowry) to Volunteer Park on
Saturday August 6. Starting time is
8:30
AM with an early lunch stop
on the river bank behind the Sam
Davis Home.
This is a “fully supporting” stream
according to the Tennessee
Department of
Environment and Conservation, which
means it is a healthy stream and
good
quality water for recreation.
Participants will learn how to
identify potential sources of
harm to the stream.
Kayaks and sit on top kayaks –
paddles and life
jackets included, and delivered to
the site - can be rented in advance
for
$45. For further information about
renting boats contact Pam Meyers
294-4447. For information about
other sources for renting boats and
general
trip information contact Heloise
Shilstat 896-6278.”
3. Low Impact
Development Webcast. This is
breaking
news so we don’t
have all the details. The City of
Murfreesboro will host a webcast from
the
Water Environment Federation about
Low Impact Development on August 4
at the
headquarters of Consolidated
Utility District on Salem Hwy., beginning
at 11
am. Attendance will be limited and
the program is primarily intended
for
local planning and engineering
officials and professionals, but we
expect there will be some seats
available. If you’re interested in
attending please contact Mayo
(mayo@stoneswatershed.org or 890-2081)
for
more information.
4. Report from our
Annual Meeting. On June 25
we had a
great turnout
for our annual meeting and potluck
dinner. We partnered with the
Watershed
Program of TDEC to host a
public meeting about water quality in
the Stones
River system. Biologist Jimmy
Smith presented a status report on
the system
and answered a long list of
questions about everything from CIC (Cows
in
Creek) to water supply capacity.
The program was followed by our
annual
business meeting, dinner and then
the splendid front porch music of
Bruce
Nemerov, Jack and Elizabeth Pearson
and John Balch. Many thanks
to Deborah
Paschall, Rachel Carrigan and other
staff of the Wilderness Station at
Barfield Park for their generous
help with the affair.Thanks to Jake
Pruitt, Greg Upham and Terri Hogan
for bravely leading hikes in the
heat and
to Randle Branch for assembling a
water sampling activity despite the
fact
that there was no water in the
river! Thanks to David Shirk for a
fantastic
photo exhibit. Thanks to everyone
who cooked.
5. Executive Board
Elections. One outcome of
the annual
meeting was
elections for officers and
Executive Board membership. SRWA Executive Board.
6. Boat Day!
On July 9 we coordinated with
Murfreesboro Parks and
Recreation Department to host our
first, but likely not our last, Boat
Day
on the Stones River Greenway at the
Manson Pike trailhead. By
rounding up
private boats, MTSU rentals and
demos from vendors Brandon Binkley
(Binks on
the Square) and Pam Myers
(CedarCreek Outdoors), we were able to
provide
about
15 canoes, kayaks and sit-on kayaks
of various designs for visitors to
try
out on the river. The
response was amazing. More than 60 people
of all ages
signed in to take a turn and many
of them stayed for hours. Some
were
people who are already experienced
boaters but wanted to try other
styles,
and some were complete neophytes.
Congratulations to Outings
Chair Heloise
Shilstat for a smashing first
event. Thanks also to the Daily
News Journal
for excellent coverage.
7. Visual Stream
Assessment. On July 21 and
23 Beth Chesson, Mayo Taylor,
Heloise
Shilstat) and Randle Branch took part in a two-part training on Visual
Stream
Assessment
sponsored by the Cumberland River Compact and led by biologist
David
Cour. The
training follows a protocol developed by the Harpeth River Watershed
Association for the
purpose of grading various stream sections according to characteristics
such as
surrounding land use, riparian cover, channel alterations, visual
appearance of
water and
river bed conditions. The protocol has a number of potential uses, such
as
determining where
remediation is most needed, and where best management practices
can most
effectively be applied.
8. New Grant.
SRWA has received a grant of $2200 from
the River
Network to support “capacity
building” activities. The Executive Board
will
set priorities for using the grant
funds at its meeting on July 28.
9. Water We Here For
is in Transition. Last year
SRWA’s
Education
Coordinator, Randle Branch, worked
with Angela Jackson of the
Murfreesboro
Parks and Recreation Dept. to pilot
an afterschool program at McFadden
community center. The project got
kids into creeks and introduced them
to
stream ecology. The program won a
Stream Savers award from WaterWorks!
Now
the originators are gearing up for
a broader program that can
accommodate
more kids in an afterschool club
format. This is a terrific volunteer
opportunity with anyone with a twin
interest in streams and kids. To
learn
more or lend a hand contact Randle:
randle@stoneswatershed.org or
692-2126.
That’s all folks. Stay in touch and
we’ll hope to see you soon.