Water Quality

Goal: Develop better baseline data of existing water quality. Apply data in our ongoing efforts to combat the problem of storm water runoff.

Is it Safe to Swim in Dog River?

DRCR has approximately 20 Alabama Water Watch (AWW) trained monitors who have collected monthly data on water chemistry and bacteria for the past 5 years (2016-2020). When we revived our water monitoring efforts in 2015, our goals were to answer the following questions:

• Is it safe to swim in Dog River?
• Is water quality in Dog River getting better or worse over time?
• Is sea level rise affecting salinity in Dog River?

Click HERE to view the full report given to members during the 2021 Virtual Annual Membership Meeting.

 

Background

For twenty years, DRCR has helped train and provide necessary equipment to volunteers to collect water chemistry and/or bacteriological data on a monthly basis at one or more sites within their local watershed. The data that monitors collect is publicly available on the Alabama Water Watch (AWW) website www.alabamawaterwatch.org and can be used to alert state and local agencies to water quality issues.   Nearly two dozen of these unsung champions of their local waterways measure: oxygen, turbidity & bacterial levels.  New volunteers are always needed.   

Goals: Provide immediate relief from onslaught of urban litter, debris and trash streaming into the river.

• Sub-contract a cleanup crew to clean areas of the river that have litter build up and are not accessible to city crews or volunteers.
• Continue to sponsor and enlarge the several Dog River Zones of the Alabama Coastal Cleanup in the fall. This year’s event is September 19, 2020.
• Engage and lead the Fall Coastal Cleanup.

The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) has facilitated watershed planning within the Mobile Bay estuary funded, in part, by BP Oil Disaster funds.  The greater Dog River Watershed is among those plans and was released in 2018 following a lengthy process involving watershed working groups which were a coalition of federal, state, and local agencies; county and local governments; property owners; developers; and commercial interests. DRCR played a key role in these working groups.

We were proud to present Dog River Clearwater Revival’s Comprehensive Litter Abatement Plan for the Dog River Watershed today to Mayor Sandy Stimpson and the Mobile City Council! The plan is the final product of our $328,101 EPA/GOMP grant awarded in 2019 to stem the flow of litter throughout Dog River water and its tributaries.

Using the information gained through the implementation of the projects included in the grant by our partners Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Mobile Baykeeper, and Partners for Environmental Progress, and joining together with Osprey Initiative, and with input from the City of Mobile – the Comprehensive Litter Abatement Plan for Dog River Watershed has been developed to assist the City in strategically focusing its efforts and resources on litter management in this watershed.

Included in the plan are specific activities and timelines to:
➤ Reduce littering and litter in the environment
➤ Improve use of data to measure the effectiveness of efforts
➤ Increase community awareness, education, and involvement in litter reduction strategies
➤ Improve regulations, ordinances, and enforcement related to litter
➤ Centralize an organizational structure, and
➤ Increase consistent and sustained funding for litter management.

It is important to note while this strategy was developed for the Dog River Watershed, its goals and objectives are transferable to and replicable in other City watersheds, including Three Mile Creek, Eight Mile Creek and Garrow’s Bend; other coastal Alabama municipalities, and beyond.

We look forward to working with the City, all its departments, and all our partners to implement the strategies outlined in the plan as we all join together to Create a Clean Water Future.

 

Read the full report here. 

Appendices A – Litter Gitter Report, Osprey Initiative
Appendices B – GIS Report, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Appendices C – Truck Bed Trash Outreach Campaign, Partners for Environmental Progress
Appendices D – Truck Bed Trash Can Competition, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Appendices E – Municipal Litter Assessment of Comparable Cities, Mobile Baykeeper
Appendices F – Green Team Report, City of Mobile and Mobile County.

Program target goals: Work to educate all citizens about their impact on the watershed and to empower people to take positive action through stewardship, volunteerism, and community leadership.

• Revamp and update Dog River Watershed Awareness presentation and materials
• Present Dog River Clearwater Revival watershed presentation or set up informational booth at 4 group events a year (school/civic/community groups)
• Network with civic groups and businesses for outreach & funding opportunities
• Revamp DRCR website
• Send out annual snail mail newsletter and quarterly email blast updates with information on our events and information on the state of the watershed.
• Update social media as needed (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram)
• Continue to hold quarterly general member meetings with environmentally relevant speakers

Program target goals 2015: Of the estimated 3,000 households along the shores of Dog River, about 100 of were active paid members of Dog River Clearwater Revival. DRCR’s goal sought to double the group’s paid membership by year’s end.  By the start of 2017, membership had more than doubled.

• Recruit volunteers from designated neighborhoods along the river to reach out to neighbors for registration
• Update membership information
• Include member registration form and self addressed envelop in annual snail-mail newsletter
• Include membership reminders in quarterly emails