Georgia
Enhancing Outreach and Technical Assistance Capabilities of Georgia’s
Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program by Adding an
Urban Planning Expert to the NEMO Team
Prtincipal Investigator: Keith Gates, University of Georgia Marine Extension
Service
ABSTRACT
A broad consortium of coastal stakeholders has expressed increasing concern
about perceived degradation of water quality in coastal Georgia. The grass-roots
movement includes commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen,
environmentalists, academics, regulators, municipal officials, and legislators.
State regulatory agents, environmentalists, and academicians found very little
historical data profiling coastal Georgia water quality. Anecdotal evidence
suggests that the quality and productivity of coastal rivers and estuaries have
declined markedly over the last 20 - 30 years. Georgia=s watermen believe
coastal salinity levels are increasing, commercial and recreational fishery stocks
are declining, and harmful algal populations are increasing in coastal rivers and
estuaries. Draining of coastal wetlands, large-scale removal of water from
coastal aquifers, the rapid and sustained economic and population growth in the
coastal counties, and point source and nonpoint source pollution of the rivers are
possible causes for the environmental deterioration.
Georgia’s rapid coastal growth has spawned many concerns about the
decreased water quality of coastal rivers and estuaries and disputes over the
proper use and allocation of coastal resources including the diversion of fresh
water from surface and underground sources for commercial, industrial, and
residential use. Major coastal stakeholders agreed that Georgian need more
information to scientifically quantify the current condition of the state’s coastal
water resources and that the results of future scientific studies should be placed
in an easily understood format and communicated to the largest possible group
of Georgia’s decisions makers and to the public.
The proposed Sea Grant Coastal Community Development Program asserts that
regional, state, and local constituencies will improve land- and resource-use
decisions, and community development practices to achieve effective sustainable
development solutions. Sea Grant can build on its extensive science-based
outreach experience to increase assistance to community officials and the
coastal public who may have limited professional training or educational
experience with growth management practices. The goal of the Community
Development Program investment is to realize a significant step-up in Sea
Grant’s engagement at the coastal community decision-making level (e.g.,
municipalities, counties, state agencies, watershed management districts) by
providing the enhanced science-based support needed to balance
environmental, social, and economic considerations. The Georgia NEMO
program is designed to address the goals outlined in the National Sea Grant
Coastal Community Development Program.
MAREX and MAS request Sea Grant support to enhance a coastal water quality
outreach and training program for municipal and state officials funded by the
Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Georgia joined the NEMO
national network in October 2000. NEMO is a National Sea Grant initiative
administered by the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service. In
addition to the National NEMO initiative focusing on impervious surfaces and
“Green Space,” the Georgia NEMO program is compiling historical coastal water
quality data, placing it in a Geographic Information System (GIS) format, and
transferring the information through outreach efforts to decision makers and
stakeholders impacting coastal Georgia=s water quality and use.
The University of Connecticut developed the NEMO concept to teach local
officials about the impacts of nonpoint source pollution and land uses on water
quality. The program uses geographic information system (GIS) technology to
simplify and explainc omplex environmental relationships. NEMO’s goals are to
increase citizen awareness and participation in decisions concerning the impact
of coastal and upriver agricultural, industrial, commercial, and residential growth
on coastal water quality.
NEMO provides technical assistance and outreach education and training for a
three tiered strategy of comprehensive planning, site design, and the use of
storm water best management practices that communities can adopt to address
land use issues and cope with nonpoint source pollution. MAREX/MAS
specialists possess the expertise needed to successfully launch and maintain the
water quality component of the NEMO program.
However, a much more comprehensive and effective program could be mounted
if Georgia NEMO had the financial resources to add an urban planner to the
NEMO faculty and staff. Polluted runoff is the cumulative result of our everyday
activities and land use policy decisions that are made mainly by local elected
officials. Nonpoint source pollution, or polluted runoff is the number one water
quality problem in the United States. Water washing over the land, whether from
rain, car washing, or the watering of crops or lawns, picks up an array of
contaminants, including oil and sand from roadways, agricultural chemicals from
farmland, and nutrients and toxic materials from urban and suburban areas is
nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. This runoff finds its way into our waterways,
either directly or through storm drain collection systems. City and county
governments can play an important role in protecting water quality. Local
governments have the power to pass ordinances that control many land-use
activities through zoning and building codes. Local planners may incorporate
zoning issues into an effective plan for further growth. Urban districts support
large areas of impervious surfaces that include rooftops, parking lots, sidewalks
and hard surfaced roads. Storm waters that once filtrated into the ground now
carry these pollutants over many impervious surfaces and into our creeks,
streams, rivers and estuaries. The impacts of polluted runoff include increased
levels of nutrients, pathogens, sediment, toxic contaminants, debris, and
thermal stress. Georgia’s increasing development has created a dire need to
educate local land-use decision makers about the relationships between land
use, impervious surfaces, runoff, and water quality. NEMO has incorporated all of
these important issues into a well-designed presentation. A Sea Grant Specialist
trained in urban planning is an essential component of any comprehensive
NEMO initiative.
The first stage in NEMO’s comprehensive planning strategy is to take an
inventory of the natural resources in an area. Initially, we will focus on
researching and acquiring both historic and new state-of-the art remotely-sensed
(RS) data sets for coastal Georgia. One useful data set is from the NOAA
Coastal Remote Sensing/Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP). This data
set consists of change analysis Landsat Thematic Mapper scenes that were
analyzed according to the C-CAP protocol to determine land cover and a
subsequent change analysis from 1992 to 1997. The land coverage inventory
consists of the entire Coastal Georgia Zone from Savannah, GA to Cumberland
Island, GA; however, we will begin by focusing on the Glynn County area. Land
inventories will be provided to clients thru presentations, electronic files, and hard
copy to help decision-makers reach prioritized decisions based on quantified
natural resources. An overall plan to preserve natural resources through
comprehensive watershed or regional management can maximize the
environmental impact of “Green Spaces” by interconnecting and coordinating
preserved areas. The second stage in the NEMO program is site design. The
objective at this stage is to return the landscape to its natural state if possible.
The third stage in this three-tiered strategy is to support Best Management
Practices (BMPs) and/or storm water management. The core program started in
Glynn County, which is located along the southeast coast of Georgia. A second
initiative designed to expand the training program will be aimed at decision
makers in an Atlanta suburb, Peachtree City, Fayette County. Glynn County and
Peachtree City will serve as the models for NEMO expansion to other Georgia
communities.