 | SUSTAINING THE FLOW A newsletter for organizational partners of the Alabama Rivers Alliance Welcome to the September 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 each month to read about upcoming events, funding opportunities, training sessions, job postings and news from folks working to #DefendRivers across the state. Did we reach the right inbox? | | | | | |  | REGULATORY NEWS & COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES Submit your opinions to agencies to let them know how their decision can impact your work. HEARINGS ON ADEM ADMINISTRATIVE CODE REVISIONS ADEM announced two public hearings to consider revisions to the ADEM Administrative Code. Revisions to Division 335-1 (General Administration) concern updating beneficial use forms and fee schedule, and the hearing is on 10/18/22 - learn more. Revisions to Division 335-17 (Medical Waste Program) concern regulatory requirements for medical waste, and the hearing is on 10/13/22 - learn more. HIGHLIGHTS FROM ALABAMA WATER RESOURCES CONFERENCE ARA's Cindy, Jack and Victoria attended the annual Alabama Water Resources Conference in early September. This conference is put together by Auburn University and the Alabama Water Resources Association primarily to provide an opportunity for attendees to hear about academic research on water related issues from universities across the state as well as other important water topics from various speakers. It is attended and sponsored by industries and agencies, so it is also an opportunity to network and hear perspectives outside of our everyday sphere. Click here for our Summary & Important Takeaways from the 2022 Alabama Water Resources Conference. OPEN MEETING ACT NOTIFICATION Sign up on the Secretary of State's Open Meetings Act website to get email notifications when public meeting are scheduled for all public boards, agencies, commissions, and other governmental bodies around Alabama. Sign up for just your local community meetings or the whole state. This is particularly useful for governmental bodies that may meet irregularly. Learn more. | | | | | |  | UPCOMING EVENTS IN ALABAMA September 30 - Southern Exposure 2022 World Premiere - Join ARA + our partners at Altamont School to catch the NEW 2022 films on the big screen! Does your group want to have a table at this event? Reply to this email and let us know!
October 1 - RiverFest with Coosa Riverkeeper - Head to Gadsden for food, drinks, and live music… all to celebrate the Coosa!
October 2 - Cahaba Fry-Down with Cahaba River Society - Fry-Down is a competitive cook-off surrounded by a party featuring fun for all ages with a carnival-like atmosphere that hosts live music, delicious food, games for all ages, and more!
October 8 - The Great Escape: River Run from Crockett - Join this 14 mile, flat-water race commemorating the 1813 escape of Black Warrior Town’s residents from Davy Crockett & the Tennessee Militia.
October 8 - Cleanup with Friends of the Locust Fork River - Join the Friends of the Locust Fork River for a cleanup at the Swann Covered Bridge
October 8 - 9 - Official Alabama Mushroom Festival - The Alabama Mushroom Society's first mushroom festival will feature food, crafts, speakers, + more!
October 20 - Wild & Scenic Film Festival - hybrid! - ARA, Energy Alabama & Flint River Conservation Association are bringing Wild & Scenic Film Festival back in-person in Huntsville & virtual across the rest of Alabama!
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT EVENTS TO THE ARA CALENDAR! | | |  | AROUND THE ARA OFFICE -
The ARA team spent a day last week with our friends on Mill Creek to discuss the challenges they are facing with Columbiana Water Works. CWW has been depleting the flow of the beautiful spring-fed creek when they run their groundwater pumps to supply water to the area. The issue of groundwater use impacting surface water is central to the need for an Alabama Water Plan! We're strategizing and planning right now for a revival of this conversation in public AND in the legislature in the coming months so stay tuned! -
Jack spent time in September delving into PFAS "forever chemical" contamination and spoke to The Guardian about the lack of testing for PFAS substances in Alabama. He has been working with fall legal intern, Taimoor Arshad, to survey the state-level PFAS actions other states have taken to reduce PFAS contamination and consider ways to get Alabama's legislature to take up this issue. -
We have been in fall events planning mode with the World Premiere of the Southern Exposure Films in Birmingham on September 30 & the Wild and Scenic Film Festival On Tour in Huntsville (& virtually everywhere else) on October 20! We're also lining up Southern Exposure screenings in Mobile (November 1) & Montgomery (November 11). Annnnd, we're looking forward to a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act on October 11 - stay tuned for more information about that in your ARA emails! -
Victoria is excited to continue working on the "Fisher's Right to Know" campaign. We are pumped to take this campaign public and back to the legislature in the near future! -
We are ramping up Alabama Water Rally 2023 planning! We'll be heading south to Camp Beckwith March 25 - 26. Have you heard an awesome speaker lately or want to know more about something in particular that we could cover at Water Rally? Please fill out this super quick survey and let us know! | | | | | |  | 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! - Congratulations to Mobile Baykeeper on their monumental lawsuit! Mobile Baykeeper filed a lawsuit yesterday over Alabama Power's plan to leave the Plant Barry coal ash pond in place. Read more, with quotes.
- Friends of Shades Creek celebrated 25 years and hosted their 25th Anniversary Celebration and had speakers sharing the story of their beginnings! Follow them on Facebook.
- Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit over Mine No. 7’s failure to comply with the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Click here to read more about this lawsuit.
- Wanting more opportunities to connect with Alabama's non-White community? Get your organization's name & face out there by tabling at stops on Shake the Field's Trap Democracy Tour! These trap music festivals seek to fuse various aspects of Black culture with messaging about civic engagement. Sign up to table, using Alabama River Alliance's as your member org, here!
- Village Creek Society hosted their 17th Annual Creek Cleanup! Learn more about Village Creek Society.
- Southeast Climate and Energy Network's (SCEN) recently presented a program on the Four R's for Social Transformation (Reform, Resist, Re-imagine, Re-create) and how folks can utilize these themes to strengthen alliances. Click here to read more about these awesome tools for advocacy.
- Our friend Jason Throneberry was recognized as a Conservationist Hero by Garden & Gun magazine in their October/November issue. We've always known what an awesome guy he is and what a tremendous voice he is to fish passage conversations and beyond in Alabama. We are proud to work alongside him - congrats, Jason! Click here to read the article.
- Get outside with the Friends of the Locust Fork River this fall! With weekly gardening opportunities, group hikes, clean ups, murals, and plant giveaways at festivals, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Learn more & get involved with FLFR here!
This newsletter is created by a small team with limited resources, please use the form below or reply to this email if you ever want to see a particular newsletter item or want to submit news from your organization! | | | | | | | | FUNDING | LEARNING | EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES | | FUNDING OPPORTUNTIES - BoatUS Foundation Grassroots Grants to fund your boater education & outreach, submit an LOI to apply, learn more
- 2022 Groundworks Organizer Grants program & Groundworks mini-grants program for community organizing
- Walmart Local Community Grants, apply with multiple stores near you twice a year, learn more
- Daniel Foundation of Alabama grants for underserved communities, Letter of Intent due 10/17, learn more
| | | EMPLOYMENT & INTERNSHIPS - Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education is hiring an Environmental Educational Programs Coordinator, learn more
- The Southern Environmental Law Center is hiring a Communications Manager, learn more
- Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is hiring a Communications Manager, learn more
- Join Mobile Baykeeper's AmeriCorps program - full or part time, learn more
- Explore environmental research internships & fellowships with the EPA through ORISE
| | | | | | Alabama Rivers Alliance
2014 6th Avenue North, Suite 200 | Birmingham, Alabama 35203
205.322.6395 | info@alabamarivers.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
