Environmental Justice in 303(d) Program Implementation 

A case study from Georgia’s South River   

On March 29, 2021 at 2PM EST, Dr. Jacqueline Echols, Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance, will present a webinar on Environmental Justice under 303(d) and TMDL programs as part of NEIWPCC’s National 303(d)/TMDL Webinar Series. 

The South River flows through two heavily developed municipalities, the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County. For decades, it has been on Georgia’s 303(d) list of unhealthy waters due to fecal coliform bacteria and PCBs from combined sewer overflows and stormwater runoff. Despite TMDL plans in place since 2002 to restore water quality, the river still does not meet the state’s lowest water quality standards. Communities of color bear the brunt of this ongoing pollution. For example, a federal Clean Water Act consent decree only includes a deadline to eliminate sewage pollution in the predominantly white sections of DeKalb County and has no deadline for eliminating sewage pollution in two-thirds of DeKalb County where most African Americans reside. 

Register online for the webinar, which is free and open to the public. The webinar will be recorded and will be available online for those who cannot join March 29th.  

Since 2016, NEIWPCC, through a grant from the EPA, has hosted a series of informational webinars for state, territorial, and tribal program staff working on pollution budgets in impaired waterways under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.  

The webinars have featured presentations from a diverse array of experts on topics ranging from modeling tools to media relations skills. All previous webinar recordings, presentations, and supporting material are available in our archives. To propose a topic for a future webinar, submit an abstract here or contact Emma Gildesgame with ideas.  

Please contact Emma Gildesgame with any questions or comments. 

Presenter: 

Dr. Jacqueline Echols has been the Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) in Decatur, GA for over a decade. She is an experienced environmental advocate with extensive experience working with diverse groups and organizations to achieve environmental goals. At SWRA, she supports community-based organizing and advocacy designed to give voice and raise community awareness concerning legacy water pollution issues affecting underserved urban communities in the City of Atlanta and south DeKalb County. She also works to develop effective partnerships with community, government, for-profit, and non-profit organizations in support of the goal to improve water quality throughout the watershed.  In the past, she’s served as a spokesperson for Atlanta’s Clean Streams Task Force and as a member of the Atlanta Tree Conservation Commission. 

Solving Impervious Cover Impairments 

Using Policy, Apps, Partnerships, and Education to Improve Water Quality 

On April 5, 2021 from 1-2 pm EST, scientists and planners from the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) will present a webinar on solutions to impervious cover impairments as part of NEIWPCC’s National 303(d)/TMDL Webinar Series. 

Runoff from impervious surfaces is a major contributor to nonpoint source pollution in surface water bodies. Addressing these impairments is a challenge requiring innovative solutions. For years, the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) has been developing new ways to improve water quality in densely developed watersheds. Join CLEAR Director Chet Arnold and Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) co-directors David Dickson and Michael Dietz for a webinar on strategies to address impervious cover impairments.   

They’ll discuss lessons learned from the 2007 impervious cover TMDL for Eagleville Brook (the first in the nation) and their work using smartphone apps, municipal partnerships, and education programs to implement green stormwater infrastructure, low impact design practices, and other strategies for reducing impervious cover and improving water quality. 

Register online for the webinar, which is free and open to the public. The webinar will be recorded and will be available online for those who cannot join on April 5.  

Since 2016, NEIWPCC, through a grant from the EPA, has hosted a series of informational webinars for state, territorial, and tribal program staff working on pollution budgets in impaired waterways under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.  

The webinars have featured presentations from a diverse array of experts on topics ranging from modeling tools to media relations skills. All previous webinar recordings, presentations, and supporting material are available in our archives. To propose a topic for a future webinar, submit an abstract here or contact Emma Gildesgame with ideas.  

Please contact Emma Gildesgame with any questions or comments. 

Presenters: 

Chet Arnold, CLEAR Director, NEMO Program Co-Founder 

Chet Arnold is a UConn Extension Educator and Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) Director. Chet has been with the University since 1987, and has worked on the Long Island Sound Study Public Outreach Program, the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program, the National NEMO Network, and CLEAR – all of which he helped to create. As Director, Chet focuses on the integration and dissemination of CLEAR land use research, geospatial tools and training, and outreach programs to best serve CLEAR’s municipal and other audiences.  

David Dickson, NEMO Program Co-Director & Mobile Mapping Educator for CLEAR & the Department of Extension
Dave Dickson is a faculty member of CLEAR and an Associate Extension Educator in the Department of Extension in the College of Ag, Health and Natural Resources. As the Co-Director of the NEMO program at CLEAR, he works primary on municipal stormwater management and low impact development issues, but also provides outreach and training focused on mobile mapping technologies as a member of CLEAR’s Geospatial Training Program. He is the co-creator of the Rain Garden smartphone app and National LID Atlas.  

Michael Dietz, NEMO Program Co-Director
Mike is a water resources educator, with primary responsibilities for running the CT NEMO Program. In addition to assuming the leadership of the NEMO Program, Mike will contribute to Sea Grant’s sustainable coastal community development program. He received both his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, focusing on stormwater and low impact development (LID) techniques. He’s worked with the Connecticut NEMO program on projects related to LID and for Utah State University as an assistant professor and extension specialist in sustainable living, where he continued to work on stormwater monitoring and LID, in addition to green building, energy conservation, and water harvesting.