The problems didn’t happen overnight and won’t be solved overnight. But with all local groups and individuals working toward a common goal, local water quality concerns can be addressed.

Approximately 30 to 40 people gathered at the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce office in Centre last week to hear the latest information and give their input on a Watershed Management Plan designed to improve Weiss Lake Water quality.

Hosting the meeting were Roger Hall, Cherokee County engineer, and John Ricketts and Becky Kostek, with CH2Mhill, the consulting firm which is preparing the plan. Also on hand for the meeting were Phillip Abney with the local Natural Resources and Conservation Service and Mel Williams, executive director, Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce.

Those six segments included in the plan include Coosa headwaters (in Georgia), Weiss Lake, Lake Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay Lake and the Lower Coosa.

“You are all part of it (plan) whether you know it or not,” said Hall. “We are trying to get a handle on how to better manage our watersheds to get the water quality in those watersheds up to a level where at least we can get off the dreaded 303D list that EPA publishes every year for impaired waters in the state. You folks are all here, I assume, because you have some interest in what we’re doing and should have some input and should continue to have some interest and input because it is not a project that can be done from afar. That has been attempted.”

Said Hall, “It is a voluntary plan, not a regulatory plan. Hopefully it will help identify the needs we have here to meet the water quality in Weiss Lake and improve water quality in Weiss Lake. These include monitoring needs, other kinds of things that might be used to improve the way we do things here in Cherokee County.”

“We need your help so we can help you in developing this plan because you work here, live here, you see it day in and day out,” said Ricketts.

As part of this plan, the Natural Resources and Conservation Department has received grant funds of $190,000 to assist local landowners in implementing best management practices on agricultural and forest lands, said Abney.

“We’re waiting on the plan to get developed so we start trying to target the items that are going to be at the forefront of this plan,” said Abney. “And then, through education and outreach, we are going to start trying to reach these individuals that we feel offer the most benefit for the money to try to take care of some of these problem areas or improve situations that already exist. This is going to be on a completely voluntary basis. Practices implemented will meet certain standards and specifications. They will have longevity and a lifespan to it. There will be an advertised sign-up period when we get the program up and running.”

“This is just the beginning of a long-term effort,” said Ricketts. “The problems and concerns that we are seeing and that Phillip is going to be bringing up to us probably didn’t get there overnight. They took a while to get there and it is going to take a while to solve them. $190,000 is a good chunk of money, but that’s not going to solve all of our problems.”

Under the plan, landowners will be offered a 60-40 match by NSCS, Abney said.

“If we go out on a landowner’s farm and they want to install a practice out there, most of our cost-share programs have a maximum amount of money that any one individual can receive in a given year,” said Abney. “Whatever the maximum amount of that money, the individual would receive 60 percent of that cost share. The landowner would be footing the rest of the bill.”

In-kind labor is also a possibility for matching purposes, Abney said.

In the study, Kostek said, CH2Mhill has collected data from the U.S. Geological Survey, which has monitoring stations at the state line where the Coosa River goes into Georgia, on Terrapin Creek, Little River and on the Chattooga River. “We have some information from ADEM and EPA, most of that relating to the nutrients and TMDLs, Alabama Power Company has collected probably the most extensive temperature and dissolved oxygen surveys on the lake,” said Kostek. “And we also have information from Alabama WaterWatch.”

The data includes information on temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, fecal coliform and endangered species identified in the watershed.

“If 10 percent of the samples exceed water quality standards, then the water body is considered to be partially supporting its use and it goes on the 303D list,” said Kostek. “At 25 percent, it is definitely not supporting what it is supposed to be doing and it again goes on the 303D list.”

While we can’t fully blame Georgia for local problems, there are some problems at the state line, which can be used as a bargaining tool in the ongoing water allocation negotiations between the two states, she said.

“We’ve identified a lot of problems coming across the state line,” said Kostek. “What is going to be one of your negotiation tools, one of your reasons for why they need to do the things they need to do, is your going to come to them with your plan that affect where you are showing improvements in your county. You are doing your part and you are making your effort. They can’t turn around and say, ‘Well why should we when you are not doing anything?’ You are going to have active projects going. You are doing something.