Greenville Soil and Water Conservation District -
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From the 2020 NACD Annual Meeting. Learn about how the Greenville Soil and Water Conservation District in South Carolina has partnered with others to solve water quality issues in their area.
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Greenville Soil and Water Conservation District -
- 1. What if…
- 4. Partner Organizations Community & Conservation Groups • Boyd Mill Pond HOA • Conestee Foundation • Connect Lake Greenwood • Friends of the Reedy River • Greenville Chamber of Commerce • Home Builder’s Association of Greenville • Preserving Lake Greenwood • United Utilities • Upstate Forever • Waterloo Water Wizards Local Government & University Partners • City of Greenville • City of Mauldin • City of Simpsonville • City of Travelers Rest • Greenville County • Greenwood County • Laurens County • Renewable Water Resources • GCSWCD • Laurens County Water & Sewer Commission • Clemson Extension Service State, Regional, & Federal Partners • Appalachian Council of Governments • Greenville Area Development Corporation • South Carolina DOT • SC DHEC • South Carolina House of Representatives • South Carolina Senate • US Environmental Protection Agency Region IV
- 5. Clean Water Act • Section 5(r) or 5(alt) • Encourages local involvement • Watershed stakeholders create the plan • Work together to solve problem before they become an issue for federal regulation • For the Reedy, focus is on nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus
- 6. How are we doing it?
- 7. 9 Committees Executive Monitoring Modeling BMP Economic Impact Public Outreach Facilitation and Plan Development Stakeholder Advisory Group Allocations
- 8. So, how are we doing?
- 9. Outreach Efforts CleanReedy.org website Facebook News articles Television appearances Community presentations
- 10. Innovative Campaigns Multi-faceted campaigns were rolled out in 2018/2019 to highlight specific pollutants.
- 11. 319 Grant Completed 319 Grant helped homeowners with needed septic repairs Cost Share for Septic Repairs
- 12. Water quality BMPs have been put into place by both governmental and private concerns BMPs Implemented City LCNP CountyFoRR McPherson Park Improvements Rain Garden Installation River Cleanup Efforts Stormwater Education
- 13. The EPA would like to see this type of effort expanded across the US, and has created a story map document that is being used internally to show their staff how a 5(alt) solution could work successfully EPA Recognition
- 14. Thanks to the efforts of many stakeholders in the RRWQG, Boyd’s Millpond and the Reedy River arm of Lake Greenwood are no longer listed by DHEC as impaired for phosphorus! Lake Greenwood
- 16. Reedy Report Card The Good News and The Bad News for: • Water Quality • Recreation, and • Wildlife
- 17. Get Involved
- 18. Get Involved! Pick up litter Join a river clean up Scoop the poop Don’t feed waterfowl Join a partner organization Grasscycle Wash cars on porous surfaces Test your soil before using fertilizer Keep yard waste out of storm drains While you can certainly participate in the nuts and bolts work by joining a committee, smaller steps can have an impact. Small Steps
- 19. What’s Next?
Editor's Notes
- What if… Organizations and people held themselves accountable for the messes they make? Think about if instead of the state or federal government having to step in to regulate clean water, a local community took it on themselves to do it? What would the world be like if people with wildly varying priorities sat down in a room together, long-term, and hashed out a plan to clean a river?
- In March of 2015, that was just what a group of over 30 organizations in Greenville and beyond decided to do for the Reedy River.
- This is a picture of a second set of falls right in downtown Greenville. In the 1800s when cotton was king in SC. People began building mills. Textile capital. Piers in foreground are from an old mill. Business booming at expense of river. Rainbow Reedy. CWA regulated, so industries on the Reedy are regulated. The river is still polluted. Algae blooms in two lakes downstream. EPA started making noises, so the community rallied.
- Led by an executive committee, partners include local governmental organizations, foundations & non-profits, conservation organizations, and ordinary citizens.
- There is a little known section in the Federal Register for the Clean Water Act known as 5r. EPA calls it 5(alt) now. This is the section of the CWA that makes a new process that uses a “bottom-up” approach to clean our rivers and lakes. Instead of the Government creating a regulatory plan, this process encourages local involvement and citizen action to reduce pollutants in water. The 5(r) approach means that pollution reduction in the Reedy River watershed is not being driven by a State-created plan. Just the opposite: the watershed stakeholders are creating the water quality improvement plan for the watershed. For the Reedy River, the primary aim is to reduce nutrient levels – like nitrogen and phosphorus – before they become so much of an issue that federal regulations are put in place.
- Allocations – not formed yet - recommend an equitable and scientifically based waste load allocation agreement that includes all sources.
- BMP gave three sources of pollution to us to educate. Car washing on impermiable surfaces, keeping riparian buffers and not using too much fertilizer. We developed a cheeky set of campaigns to catch attention. They are naughty enough to catch attention, but then we used the pun ‘keep it clean’ to get people’s minds out of the gutter and onto clean water.
- Those projects were on behalf of the entire RRWQG, but there are also individual stakeholders doing multiple projects at the same time.
- Weighted Regressions of Time, Discharge and Season
- While you can certainly participate in the nuts and bolts work by joining a committee, smaller steps can have an impact.
- New campaigns, more BMPs, watershed based plan, probably going to add a buffer ordinance. Has been Okd by HBA but needs to go through County Council.
- This is what happens when a community holds themselves accountable and takes responsibility. This is what happens when dozens of stakeholders come together and are willing to negotiate for a common cause. To quote Dr. Perryman this morning: If you want to have something you’ve never had or achieved something you’ve never achieved, you have to do something you’ve never done. Questions?