Coosa River Basin Initiative facts for kids

The Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI) is a group based in Rome, Georgia. It is a nonprofit organization that works to protect the environment. Their main goal is to help people learn about and protect the Coosa River Basin. This area is one of North America's most biologically diverse river systems. This means it is home to many different kinds of plants and animals.

Since 1992, CRBI has worked to protect the natural resources of the Upper Coosa River basin. This large area, also called a watershed, includes the Coosa River, the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers, and all the smaller streams that flow into them. It also includes the land around these waterways and the air above them.

CRBI is part of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Because of this, they are also known as the Upper Coosa Riverkeeper. They help make sure the Clean Water Act is followed. This law helps keep our water clean. CRBI watches for pollution and works to fix problems, sometimes even using legal action.

The organization also works with the Georgia Water Coalition and Alabama Rivers Alliance. They help shape rules about water use in both Georgia and Alabama. Their goal is to make sure there is clean water for everyone now and in the future. CRBI focuses on four main areas: speaking up for the environment, teaching people, checking water quality, and restoring damaged areas.

Besides its main office in Rome, CRBI has a local group called the New Echota Rivers Alliance. This group is based in Calhoun, Georgia. They specifically watch over the Oostanaula River and its smaller streams.

How the Coosa River Basin Initiative Started

After a meeting in 1991 in Keith, Georgia, a businessman named Jerry Brown had an idea. He met with many people who were fighting local environmental issues. These issues included things like landfills and chipmills. Jerry Brown wanted to create a larger group to fight environmental problems across the whole Coosa River Basin. Soon after, CRBI was formed.

One of their first big successes was stopping a landfill that was planned upstream from Weiss Lake. This landfill would have caused pollution.

CRBI first started with dedicated volunteers working from a small office. This office was located in the back of Jerry Brown's business. Over time, CRBI grew and became an important voice in decisions about the region's natural resources.

Today, CRBI has an office on Broad Street in downtown Rome. The organization now has full-time and part-time staff. These staff members work with volunteers and a board of directors. They create and carry out programs for advocacy, education, water monitoring, and restoration. More than 800 members support CRBI with their money and by volunteering their time.

What CRBI Has Achieved

Since it began in 1992, CRBI has worked hard to improve water quality in the Coosa River Basin. Their programs have also helped people better understand water issues. Here are some of their major accomplishments:

• They worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure the Clean Water Act was followed. This led to the EPA setting limits on pollution for waterways. These limits are called Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). They help control how much pollution can enter rivers and streams.
• CRBI won a $500,000 agreement against a company building a large shopping center. This helped protect streams and save homes for fish species that were in danger.
• They stopped a plan to send sewage from metro Atlanta, GA into the Coosa River Basin. They worked with state lawmakers to make communities in Atlanta rethink their growth plans.
• CRBI helped stop factories from dumping indigo dye into the Chattooga River. They also stopped the wrong way of spreading wastewater sludge on land in Dalton.
• They stopped a paper company from releasing hot water into Smith-Cabin Creek in Floyd County.
• CRBI helped defeat a law that would have allowed Georgia's water to be bought and sold. They worked with other environmental groups to keep Georgia's water as a public resource for everyone.

CRBI has trained hundreds of people to check rivers and creeks throughout the basin. These citizens collect important information about water quality. CRBI then combines this information with data from the City of Rome, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and Alabama Water Watch. They look for trends in water quality. If anything unusual is found, they investigate further to make sure no illegal activities are harming the water.

The organization has also taught thousands of people in the Coosa River Basin. They do this through classroom visits, community meetings, public talks, and workshops. They also share information through print and broadcast media, and in their quarterly newsletter called Mainstream.