Sustainable Midlands: Protecting Our Local Water Source

Sustainable Midlands is a grassroots nonprofit organization with many focuses, like local food access and recycling, but one of its most collaborative ventures is its clean water initiatives. To help protect the integrity of the Smith Branch and Rocky Branch, Sustainable Midlands created the Rocky Branch Watershed Alliance, the Smith Branch Watershed Alliance, and the Adopt-A-Stream program.

 The Rocky Branch Watershed Alliance was formed as a project of Sustainable Midlands guided by a steering committee comprised of stakeholders representing the community. The alliance is comprised of the following stakeholders: the University of South Carolina, the City of Columbia, Richland County, SC DHEC, Congaree Riverkeeper, and the Gills Creek Watershed Association. It is a movement that unifies concerned residents, businesses, governments and organizations to restore water quality, properly manage flooding, and care for related natural resources. The alliance also encourages responsible development of adjacent land, such as the Five Points area and the University of South Carolina campus.

  The goals of the Rocky Branch Watershed Alliance are to develop cost-effective solutions to the devastating flooding; improve water quality; restore habitat for native wildlife and plants; and to plan a greenway from Five Points to the Granby Riverwalk.

 The Smith Branch Watershed Alliance was formed in 2013 to create plans to address immediate and long-term issues facing the Smith Branch watershed in the northern part of Columbia. The alliance is eager to work in concert with future development in the area, including the Bull Street State Hospital redevelopment project, to ensure an overall plan for the Smith Branch to become a community asset. The watershed area, which originates near the hospital site, stretches across Columbia’s North Main Street neighborhoods and empties into the Broad River, just north of the Columbia Canal.

  Sustainable Midlands sits on many greenway committees to help ensure these developments are beneficial and do not cause more problems with flooding and poor water quality. These watershed alliances give community members a voice to meet with legislators, contractors, engineers and municipal figures to advocate for their quality of life. These alliances give community members a say in real issues that affect them.

 Every month, Sustainable Midlands and its Adopt-A-Stream volunteers collect chemical and bacteria samples from the Rocky Branch watershed (at Whaley and Main streets) and from the Smith Branch watershed (where NOMA Dog Park meets Earlewood Park).

With Adopt-A-Stream, Sustainable Midlands encourages individuals to ADOPT:

Increase public Awareness of the state’s nonpoint source pollution and water-quality issues.

Collect baseline water quality Data.

Gather Observations.

Encourage Partnerships between citizens and their local government.

Provide citizens with the Tools and Training to evaluate and protect their local waterways.

Looking forward, Sustainable Midlands aims to train the next generation of environmental stakeholders. The organization has developed a free K-12 curriculum that teaches students of all ages the value of clean water resources and their impact on riparian ecosystems.

 The month of May is recognized as National Water Safety Month. As such, everyone in the Midlands is encouraged to help support and protect our valuable water resources by getting personally involved in some way, like volunteering with the Adopt-A-Stream program. Together we can make a difference.

For more information, call 803-470-4302, email [email protected] or visit SustainableMidlands.org.

Janel Page is the marketing and events coordinator at Sustainable Midlands.