 | SUSTAINING THE FLOW A newsletter for partners of the Alabama Rivers Alliance Welcome to ARA's August 2024 monthly partner newsletter! This newsletter aims to foster collaboration and help us keep moving forward together in our respective work in Alabama. Dive into this past month's newsletter to hear about what's been going on at ARA and with our partners across Alabama, engage in comment opportunities, explore job postings, seize funding possibilities, and check out upcoming events and trainings across our network. Please send us your news or suggestions anytime! | | | | | |  | REGULATORY NEWS & COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES Relevant environmental regulatory updates & opportunities to let agencies know how their decisions can impact your work. USACE INVASIVE SPECIES PREVENTION & PILOT PROGRAM The US Army Corps of Engineers has released their Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Invasive Carp Prevention and Pilot Program on the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Tombigbee river basins. Public comments on this plan will be accepted until September 12, 2024. An Alabama public meeting will be this evening, August 27, 2024, in Florence and a virtual meeting will take place over Webex on the evening of August 29, 2024. More details about commenting and links to join the virtual meeting here. GOOD TO KNOW: ADEM DIRECTOR'S REPORT TO AEMC Read a copy of ADEM Director Lance LeFleur's most recent report to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, a seven-member Governor appointed panel that oversees ADEM. This report from the August 9, 2024 meeting includes updates on ADEM's environmental justice efforts, Title VI complaints, and BIL/APRA spending. Find the Director's Report here. | | | | | |  | AROUND THE ARA OFFICE - Charles wrote and submitted comments on ADEM's triennial review of water quality criteria. He's also working on a presentation for the Southeastern Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (SPIEL) about state jurisdiction over water pollution in the Southeast. Registration for SPIEL is still open! Bonus: Southern Exposure Films will be there too!
- Speaking of, it's that time of year when we are planning events all across Alabama to share the awesome new Southern Exposure Films and have meaningful discussions in communities about ways to protect our rivers. We hope you'll join us somewhere along the way, like at the premiere on September 27 in Birmingham or in Talladega, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Wilsonville, Wetumpka, Gadsden and more coming soon! Keep up with these events and more by clicking here.
- Jack has been reviewing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposal to keep invasive carp from overwhelming our Mobile basin rivers. If you're interested in this topic, join him at the public meeting hosted by the Corps in Florence, AL tonight!
- Cindy is all about panels this month to help bring awareness of important environmental issues to Alabamians across the state! She participated in an environmental justice panel at Mobile's "Democracy Now or Never" Festival hosted by Alabama Forward and will be moderating a panel discussion on caring for waterways at the inaugural Call Me Trim Tab event this Thursday evening.
- Besides attending a few wonderful retirement celebrations, Martha has been working with coalitions and new organizations, sharing in the growing pains as the organizations learn about their own growth and governance. She'll also be training one of our partners on the use of organizational communication tools like Slack. Reach out to Martha if you're interested in these resources!
- V's got some potential big plans in the works, but in the meantime, this month they've been continuing ARA's state and national involvement in water infrastructure advocacy work and preparing SRF presentations for the near future.
| | | | | | HEARD AROUND THE OFFICE? We also wanted to share some of the media we've been consuming around our office lately! - Charles has been reading Deep Enough For Ivorybills, a collection of stories about hunting and exploring the bottomland swamps of South Carolina and Georgia by the late James Kilgo.
- Inspired by some speeches that will be studied and revered for lifetimes after us, Kelly highly recommends listening to Trevor Noah on her #1 top favorite unserious-yet-serious podcast, Smartless. The way Noah illustrates "identity politics" in other countries is a fresh outlook on the very tired system we have propped up here in our country and she very much digs that messaging lens. She knows y'all didn't watch Years and Years, but maybe you'll give this one hour a listen!
- V has been going back and forth between reading Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, a book made from recycled plastic about plastic, and Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston, a book about the Oluale Kossola and the Clotilda.
- Martha has been enjoying the BBC podcast Nature Table, which are comedic nature podcasts that have her laughing! She also recently attended a wonderful Contra Dance weekend in Mentone. When she gets time, she also likes to read about biodynamic farming and watch videos about goat farming.
- We ALL really enjoyed the totally not-safe-for-work video True Facts: Mussels That Catch Fish, recently shared by Alabama Audubon! We double dare you to not laugh while learning more about the blush-inducing facts about mussel reproduction.
| | | |  | | | PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS FROM ACROSS ALABAMA Amplifying the voices of those working for change in Alabama by celebrating news, wins of all sizes, milestones, AND ways others could use support! Submit your news so we can celebrate you! - Coosa River Basin Initiative and SELC have settled their federal PFAS case against Georgia's city of Calhoun for their acceptance of industrial wastewater from some of the world's largest carpet producers and finishers, which are widely known to use forever chemicals. Read more from SELC here & more details on the pollution from CRBI here.
- Head's up, ARA is moving offices this October, and we're purging a bunch of office furniture! Do you have a need for any office furniture? Please let us know!
- Check out Tree Talk: Let Kids Climb! commentary in the Trussville Tribune from Jean Cox, executive director of Friends of Pinchgut Creek. We love trees and kids deserve to climb them!
- The Friends of the Locust Fork River are working on another access point to the Locust Fork, located on County Road 30 in Susan Moore, AL! Learn more, suggest names, and help them fundraise for this new access here.
- The 2024 hurricane season is gaining steam! NOAA predicts that it'll likely be an above-normal season due to warming ocean temperatures and ENSO conditions, and they're anticipating 17 to 25 named storms. More about predictions here.
- Mobile Baykeeper recently hosted a series of Town Hall meetings about federal mud dumping in Mobile Bay in the communities of Theodore and Fairhope. Learn more about the issue and MBK's actions here.
- Apply to table at Hoover's 2024 Moss Rock Festival, coming up on November 2-3, 2024! Click here to sign up, deadline approaching soon.
- Sewage overflows have continued in Tuscaloosa. See more from CBS42 with an interview with John Wathen, your Hurricane Creekkeeper, here.
- The National Marine Educators Association awarded Dr. Tina Miller-Way the 2024 Individual National Marine Education Award for her work at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and their STEM programs! See more here.
- Wild Alabama has been spreading the news ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, coming up on September 3, 2024! Learn more about the history and impacts of the Wilderness Act from Wild Alabama here.
- USACE and Arizona State University are conducting a study to understand perceptions of water management (for flood control, groundwater, water supply, etc) in their communities. They asked if we could share their 15 minute survey with our network. Fill out the survey here.
- American Rivers has opened nominations for America's Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025 through September 30, 2024. This report spotlights 10 rivers every year to draw attention and mobilize action for those areas under threat, and rivers in Alabama have been spotlighted many times in the past (but not since 2022). Find nomination info here.
This newsletter is created by a small team with limited resources, please use reply to this email or click below to submit newsletter items from your organization! | | | | | | | | FUNDING | LEARNING | EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES | | | | | | Alabama Rivers Alliance
2014 6th Avenue North, Suite 200 | Birmingham, Alabama 35203
205.322.6395 | info@alabamarivers.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
