With more than 40 Rivers Alive affiliated cleanups scheduled across the state this fall, employees from the Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) and Henry County Stormwater Management did their part by hosting the annual Henry County Rivers Alive Cleanup this month, at a “dumping” site located at 1603 Lester Mill Road.
Other Rivers Alive events scheduled this month included cleanups in Clayton County, Walton County, Griffin, and Macon, while Warner Robins, Augusta, Savannah, and other communities will host cleanups in November.
Rivers Alive is Georgia’s annual waterway cleanup, which targets creeks, streams, rivers, lakes/reservoirs, beaches, and wetlands across the state. The mission of Rivers Alive, which is a Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Outreach Program, is to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia’s water resources.
recently for this year’s Henry County Rivers Alive cleanup at a site people have used for “dumping,” which was negatively impacting two of the Water Authority’s drinking water reservoirs.
Special photo
The location of this year’s Henry County Rivers Alive cleanup is surrounded by the HCWA’s Gardner and Long Branch Reservoirs, increasing the importance of keeping this site clean for the sake of drinking water quality. Henry County Rivers Alive is an opportunity for the HCWA and Henry County Stormwater staffs to work together to preserve local water resources.
“Henry County Rivers Alive is a concentrated effort to pick up trash and debris that is harmful to our local waterways,” says Lindsey Sanders, HCWA Environmental Compliance Coordinator, who organized the local event. “Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that the trash they leave behind today will remain there for hundreds of years, continuing to cause pollution. Since two of our drinking water reservoirs are near the site of our cleanup, it’s even more important to keep this area clean.”
The 20 volunteers who came out for Henry County Rivers Alive were able to collect 1.59 tons of trash, with a rubber tire front loader coming in handy to help dispose of nearly 100 tires.
“I felt like this was a great way to serve our community and help the environment,” says Bill Banks, HCWA Project Manager, who was one of the volunteers at this year’s Henry County Rivers Alive. “We were able to remove an enormous amount of trash, and I enjoyed being a part of the cleanup efforts.”
Authority officials note that water resources are often taken for granted but are no less important to the economic development and quality of life in the community.
“It’s amazing what a group of hard-working volunteers can get done in a few hours, and I’m so very grateful for their enthusiasm to clean up an area of our community that directly impacts our environment and waterways,” says Sanders.
For more information on Henry County Rivers Alive, including a photo gallery from this year’s cleanup, please visit the Henry County Water Authority website at www.hcwa.com.
