GCB Invites You to Adopt-A-Stream During Water Quality Month

Sandwiched between two months that feature major national holidays: Independence Day in July and Labor Day in September, August showcases slightly less well-known holidays such as “Admit You’re Happy Month,” “National Eye Exam Month” and “Romance Awareness Month.” That said, August also shines the light on a topic that’s near and dear to our hearts at Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful… Water Quality Month. Created by the United Nations to bring awareness to the importance of clean water in the world, Water Quality Month is an occasion to appreciate and advocate for our precious water resources. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “when the water in our rivers, lakes, and oceans becomes polluted; it can endanger wildlife, make our drinking water unsafe, and threaten the waters where we swim and fish.”

“We don’t always realize the importance of the things we can’t see with our own two eyes – such as the quality of our water,” said Schelly Marlatt, Executive Director for Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GCB). “The quality of our water directly impacts the safety and quality of our community. Gwinnett County’s Department of Water Resources works diligently to ensure the highest possible quality of our water – making Gwinnett all the more attractive to businesses that wish to locate here, providing residents with clean water to drink, safeguarding our water sources like the Chattahoochee River, Yellow River and Lake Lanier, and helping to preserve a wonderful environment for both recreation and conservation. At GCB, we are proud to partner with them on impactful programs such as Great Gwinnett Wetlands and Adopt-A-Stream. Of course, we can’t do it alone! We need wonderful volunteers to make all of our programs a success.”

Did You Know….?

34% of our national public water systems incurred violations

of federal drinking water quality standards in 2015

Water Quality Month is an excellent time to jump onboard Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s Adopt-A-Stream Program! Volunteers periodically collect baseline water quality data to both monitor and report on the conditions of our local streams, all while becoming more aware of how pollution and water quality issues affect our community and ecosystem. To help you get started as an official “keeper” of a portion of a local creek or stream, GCB and the Department of Water Resources will provide you with supplies, training, and certifications in chemical, bacterial and macroinvertebrate testing.