 | SUSTAINING THE FLOW A newsletter for organizational partners of the Alabama Rivers Alliance Welcome to the May monthly newsletter from Alabama Rivers Alliance to our partner groups and organizations! This newsletter's purpose is to help us all sustain the flow & keep moving forward together in our respective work in Alabama. Open us up this month to read about lots of job openings, training sessions, events and more news from folks working to #DefendRivers across the state. Click here to update your organization contact info or to sign others up! | | | |  | REGULATORY NEWS & COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES Relevant environmental regulatory updates & opportunities to agencies to let them know how their decision can impact your work. EPA PROPOSES RULE TO STRENGTHEN WASTEWATER DISCHARGE STANDARDS FOR COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS The EPA is proposing to strengthen the wastewater discharge standards that apply to coal-fired power plants. These new standards would apply to each coal-burning power plant in the US and EPA estimates would reduce pollutants discharged through wastewater from coal-fired power plants by approximately 584 million pounds per year. Learn more details about what these proposed rules cover by reviewing the presentation from the April public hearings, technical documents, and fact sheets available on EPA's website. Comments for the "Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Guidelines" 2023 Proposed Rule are due on May 30th on the Federal Register, Docket Number EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819, found here. USACE CLAIBORNE & MILLERS FERRY LOCKS AND DAMS FISH PASSAGE STUDY DRAFT FEASIBILITY REPORT & INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has released the Claiborne and Millers Ferry Locks and Dams Fish Passage Study Draft Feasibility Report and Integrated Environmental Assessment for public review and comment. This project, also known as the Alabama Fish Passage Project, will close its comment period on May 31st, 2023, learn more. ARA and our partners are drafting comments for this. If you are interested in reviewing or signing on to those comments, please reach out to Cindy by end of day Friday. | | | | | |  | AROUND THE ARA OFFICE - We had an awesome time putting on the River Defender Crawfish Bash with the help of our Young Professional River Defenders at the Red Clay Brewing Company in Opelika! Music from 2Blu and the Lucky Stiffs + crawfish + beer + friends = a great evening!
- The Legal & Advocacy Team submitted comments on Alabama Power's application for 401 Water Quality Certification for the R.L Harris Hydroelectric Project to ADEM & began reviewing the Pre-Application Document for the proposed Chandler Mountain pumped storage hydropower project in the Coosa watershed.
- ARA staff took turns attending the three US Army Corps of Engineer's public review meetings about the Corp's tentative plan to reconnect the Cahaba River to the Gulf of Mexico through fish passage. We met lots of interested community members and key stakeholders, and we are excited to work with our partners to write comments about this incredibly important opportunity for fish passage on the Alabama River! Stay tuned for more about this, including a Southern Exposure film diving into this topic this summer!
- We're pleased that the Safe & Healthy Outdoor Recreation Act, HB297/SB105, continues to move forward, thanks to the awesome work of our Policy Team! If you haven't read the May update email, the SHOR Act has passed out of the House unanimously and out of Senate Committee. Once we get word that HB297/SB105 is up for the Senate floor, we will need your help again asking folks to contact their Senators!
- The Communications Team has been working with a local agency to update ARA's logo and branding. We can't wait to share that and our new strategic plan with our partners soon!
- We're hiring! The Advocacy Team is searching a Water and Wastewater Advocacy Research Fellow to help us with our water infrastructure advocacy work this summer.
| | | | | |  | 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! - Meet the Southern Exposure Fellows! ARA is thrilled to welcome five incredibly talented filmmakers to Alabama for the 2023 Southern Exposure Film Fellowship in just a few weeks! Read more about the filmmakers on our website, but joining us soon will be Annie Foreman, Nora Long, Astrid Malter, Lily Ahree Siegel, and Quinn C. Smith!
- H2O Tea Time, a new podcast with casual but crucial conversations about water issues in the Alabama Black Belt, recently hosted your Hurricane Creekkeeper, John Wathen, on an episode. Go give it a listen, John is on the May 14 episode!
- May is Mental Health Awareness Month! We are proud to work alongside all of you amazing advocates, so be sure to take care of yourselves for the long haul!
- The Alabama Chapter of the Sierra Club welcomed two new outings leaders, Ann Hewitt and Ida Gleaton! Congrats & welcome y'all! See photos from their first hike on Facebook.
- The Consortium for Rural Water & Wastewater Management held their semi-annual meeting at the beginning of May, with the largest attendance yet! Over sixty individuals representing state and federal governments, water industries, university research groups, community groups, and nonprofits came together to discuss ongoing projects to improve water and wastewater infrastructure in the Alabama Black Belt. Read meeting minutes for details about ongoing projects, research, and funding here.
- Sally Sierer Bethea, former Executive Director and Riverkeeper at Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, has published a memoir of her time there and wants to get this book to as many river advocates as possible. Check out Keeping the Chattahoochee: Reviving and Defending a Great Southern River here to get a 30% discount as well!
- Congratulations to Catherine Coleman Flowers, the founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, for being named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2023! Read more about this recognition here.
- Swimming season is here, and so is Swim Guide testing! Thank you to every organization putting together water quality alerts! Reminder that anyone can download the Swim Guide App to see current and historical results for almost 100 different swimming holes all over Alabama.
- River Network has announced their next President and CEO, Raj Shukla! Read more about him here.
This newsletter is created by a small team with limited resources, please use reply to this email or click below to email Victoria if you want submit newsletter items from your organization! | | | | | | | | FUNDING | LEARNING | EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES | | FUNDING OPPORTUNTIES - Community Foundation of Central Alabama's Cultural and Community Enhancement grant cycle opens 7/3 - 8/11, learn more
- Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama's Fall Grants cycle will begin with a Pre-application workshop on 7/25, learn more
- Alabama Council for the Arts is accepting applications for arts projects! If your org hosts a festival, performance, reading, demonstration, or other arts-oriented type event, you might want check out the 2023-2024 grant guidelines
| | | | | | Alabama Rivers Alliance
2014 6th Avenue North, Suite 200 | Birmingham, Alabama 35203
205.322.6395 | info@alabamarivers.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
