About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2019)
LOCAL THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17-23, 2019 • Page 2 SOUTH DEKALB Researchers to study South River Volunteers pull tires, trash and other discarded items from the South River during a clean up event. BY HORACE HOLLOMAN horace@dekalbchamp.com Richard Milligan, assistant professor in geosciences at Georgia State University (GSU), said he loves to paddle the South River in DeKalb County in his spare time. Milligan also volunteers at South River Watershed Alliance. When Milligan was asked to participate in a three-year study of the South River watershed and how it is impacted by urban development, he said it was a dream come true. “I love the South River and I’ve been really involved in river conservation most of my adult life,” Milligan said. “I’m living the dream doing research at Georgia State and hopefully it will be helpful [in] improving the health of rivers and the South River.” According to a team of geoscience researchers at GSU, the research of the South River will focus on how drinking water and wastewater intermix with flows of water in the natural environment such as in stream and river channels. Researchers will also study how rainwater enters into sewer pipes through poorly sealed manholes or breaks and leaks in aging pipes, putting an extra burden on wastewater treatment plants, GSU officials said. DeKalb officials have previoulsy said the county sewer infrastructure has been neglected “for decades.” However, the county has recently approved more than $100 million to repair, rehabilitate and restore its aging sewer pipes. “The work that we’re doing will be useful for people in the future, specifically in DeKalb,” Milligan said. “The South River has been subjected to sewer overflows and we’re hoping to better understand how stormwater can sometimes go into the sewage lines and what else could be causing some of the sewage overflows. Hopefully this research can help reduce the accidents.” Last year DeKalb County officials reported 183 sewer spills resulting in more than 5.6 million gallons of sewage spilled into the environment. When rainwater enters the sewer pipe system, it can create a sanitary sewer overflow, causing sewer water to enter various rivers, including the South River. DeKalb County entered into a consent decree in 2011 with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The consent decree requires the county to clean, repair, enlarge and maintain its sanitary sewer pipes so sewer overflows are reduced. “We hope our approach will offer lessons on how we leam about critical water issues, especially in the context of cities growing rapidly,” said Ellis Adams, an assistant professor of global studies and geosciences at Georgia State. “This is critical for planning. It’s not just a study and what we leam but being able to quantify all of it is important for someone working with wastewater treatment plants or someone planning for the future of a city and where its water is coming from.” Researchers received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the South River watershed. According to researchers, “DeKalb County is an ideal community to analyze complex urban hydrology.” DeKalb receives most of its drinking water from the Chattahoochee, but more than 30 million gallons a day drain from the Chattahoochee to the South River. “Knowledge from this study could help the EPA and DeKalb County prevent untreated sewage from entering the South River and its tributary creeks,” said Milligan. DON’T BE THE DEALER l r; * MISUSED t - OEft NBTIONW^ Keep them safe. Clean them out. Take them back. Saturday, October 26 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For participating locations, visit www.guideinc.org/takeback
