Newspaper Page Text
It is extremely important to protect our water source
By Candace Stoughton
For the Forsyth Couny News
Many of us have become
more aware that here in north
Georgia, the stream in our
backyard is actually our
source of drinking water. I
can’t tell you the number of
times I’ve been asked, "Is it
safe to drink the water from
the Etowah River? Should 1
drink bottled water instead?"
As we see more degrada
tion of our precious Etowah
streams, it's no wonder people
are concerned. In fact, com
munities around the world are
grappling with this same issue
How do we ensure that our
water will always be safe to
drink?
I'd like to point out one
example that may be worth
further inquiry. In the late
1980 s the leaders of New York
City asked their engineers
what was the most cost effec
tive way to ensure they would
always have clean drinking
water. They were concerned
because the watershed
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upstream of
the Hudson
River was
experiencing
increased
development
pressure.
The answer?
Protect the
watersheds
that feed the
Hudson Riv-
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Stoughton
er by preserving a significant
portion of the watershed as
forests and farms.
So, the city leaders fol
lowed the advice of their engi
neers and worked with
upstream communities to pro
tect thousands of acres of rural
and forested land in the basin.
The city spent 51.5 billion to
protect 80,000 acres of its
upstate watershed instead
of $8 billion for a water filtra
tion plant that would require
an additional S3OO million a
year to operate. Adopting a
land protection strategy can
result in massive savings
because it is much cheaper to
protect rural land than it is to
build water treatment plants to
treat the dirty water that
comes from a developed
watershed. For New York, the
land protection strategy was
seven times cheaper than
building and operating a treat
ment plant. For more informa
tion on this strategy, see the
following Web site: http:-
//www.nycwatershed.org/.
According to Running
Pure, the report by World
Bank-WWF Alliance for
Forest Conservation and
Sustainable Use, more than a
third of the world's 105
biggest cities including
New York; Jakarta, Indonesia;
Los Angeles; Tokyo; Mumbai,
India; and Melbourne,
Australia rely on fully or
partly protected forests in
catchment areas for much of
their drinking water.
"Some cities that are cur
rently struggling with unsafe
water supplies should protect,
manage and. where necessary,
restore forests in strategic
places. This would both help
them secure their supply of
clean water and save billions
of dollars," said Dr. Chris
Elliott, director of WWF's
Forests For Life Program.
How do rural forests protect
the water for downstream
users?
Intact forests soak up rain
fall and filter out pollutants
naturally as they recharge the
groundwater. But this purifying
service is diminished when
trees are cleared and pavement
replaces the spongy forest
floor. Also, the number of pol
lution sources increase as the
forested landscape is replaced
by homes, lawns, septic tanks,
parking lots, stores, etc. As
impervious surfaces increase
(i.e. roofs, roads, sidewalks,
etc) increased volumes of
storm water runoff lead to
more in-stream erosion.
As a watershed is devel
oped and the water becomes
more polluted, communities
downstream face billions of
dollars in expenses to treat the
Group celebrates 1,000 animals adopted
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From left, Alexander and Linda Alexander, holding their puppy Chewy,
recently were surprised with gifts after the Alexanders adopted Chewy at Pet Smart in
Cumming. The puppy represents Second Chance Animal Sanctuary's I,oooth adopt
ed animal. From left are the Alexanders and Shannon Elliott of Second Chance,
Robert LaMartina of Pet Smart, Gian Mangia of Banfield Animal Hospital, and Sandy
Patak, Pet Smart animal trainer.
.
Upcoming Dynamic
Mfcj The 9th Annual
"P.I.E. In The Sky" Luncheon
A Partners In Education Celebration
Friday, April 16, 2004
fWith Special Guest Speaker
United States Congressman
John Linder, Georgia, 7th District
Join Our Celebration As We Recognize the
"Best of the Best” for 2004
Recognition and awards will be presented to:
• Teachers of the Year
• Volunteers of the Year
• Mentors of the Year
• Partner of the Year - Gold Level
united states congressman • Partner of the Year - Silver Level
John Linder. Georgu, • School Program of the Year
7th District . The Chamber Apple Award
• Don Hendricks Partnership Award
Date: April 16, 2004
Place: Sawnee Cultural Arts Center - 1090 Tribble Gap Road, Cumming
Time: 11:30a.m. - 1:30p.m.
Cost: $ 15.00 Chamber Members/$20.00 Non Chamber Members
RSVP: fccoc@forsythchamber.org or via fax at 770-781-8800 or register on
line at www.forsythchamber.org
Pre-payment is required. No shows will be invoiced.
PRIMARY SPONSORS
m Oh
NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL 'MMrgjW
FORSYTH
FOR Goodness sake
In Conjunction With:
»ww Wo IFI <
MraiMMMB-fORBYTH COUNTY GEORGIA COUNTY SCHOOLS Hf V
M I N o a ro» ■ U ■ I N c ■ ■
(MHy Laming md Supenot Palnmana' tnr M
The Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce
outback
rvO j Contributing Sponsor: | steakhousl*
J rio Nirs, k-rr tow
Cumming
w w w . f o r s ythchamber.org
FORBYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, April 11.2004
polluted water so it is safe for
people to drink. As a result,
more and more communities
are realizing that keeping water
clean in the first place is almost
always cheaper than cleaning it
up after it has become polluted.
The water and the land are
connected. A 1991 study by the
American Water Works
Research Foundation conclud
ed that "the most effective way
to ensure the long term protec
tion of water supplies is
through land ownership."
"However, good quality
drinking water for city
dwellers should not come at
the expense of people living in
catchment areas, and any pro
tection or management scheme
should be fully negotiated with
local stakeholders." said Dr.
Chris Elliott, director of
WWF's Forests For Life
Program.
This type of partnership is
fundamental to the work of
The Nature Conservancy,
which has been actively
involved for years in collabora-
PAGE 13A
tion with businesses, commu
nity groups, government agen
cies and other nonprofit con
servation groups to help to
secure, the purchase of key
tracts of land in critical water
shed areas for preservation.
We are all negatively
impacted by degraded water
quality and the development of
our North Georgia forests.
Ultimately these ecosystems
have value far beyond our abil
ity to measure. Their loss
results in significant economic
loss, and their preservation is
an essential part of our ability
to create a livable future for all
citizens.
Candace Stoughton is the
Etowah River Project Manager
for The Nature Conservancy.
For more information about
The Nature Conservancy's
work in the Etowah watershed
visit whi. nature.org/georgia.
If you would like to be added to
The Nature Conservancy's
email updates list for the
Etowah please call (770) 704-
7280.