Madison-Morgan Conservancy

The Conservancy’s Adopt-A-Stream Program has morphed into something special. Please see how the Upper Oconee Watershed Project is making a difference.

Why the Upper Oconee Watershed Project?

A healthy stream is a busy place and one that fills man’s needs of drinking water, irrigation, recreation, etc. Wildlife and birds find shelter and food near and in its waters. Vegetation grows along its banks, shading the stream, slowing its flow in rainstorms, filtering pollutants before they enter the stream, and sheltering animals.

Human activities shape and alter many of these stream characteristics. We build roads, parking lots, homes, offices, golf courses, and factories in our watersheds. We farm, mine, cut down trees, and graze our livestock in and along stream edges. We also swim, fish, and canoe in streams. Our activities affect stream habitat, and our awareness of such can help protect water quality and quantity.

You can be part of the Upper Oconee Watershed Project by volunteering your time to do:

Visual Stream Survey
Volunteers will measure stream width, depth and flow on a seasonal basis (four times every year). This measuring will allow us to track the stream’s flow and changes in course.

Biological Monitoring
This type of monitoring involves identifying and counting macroinvertebrates and occurs seasonally (four times every year). The abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates found in a stream is an indication of overall stream quality. Macroinvertebrates include aquatic insects, crayfish, and snails that live in various stream habitats and derive their oxygen from water.

Chemical Monitoring
A variety of water quality tests can be run on fresh water, including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, settleable solids, water clarity, phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorine, total dissolved solids, and many others. These tests can be performed monthly or seasonally.

Volunteers Needed

Please call the Conservancy to sign up, 706-342-9252, or email
mmconservancy@mindspring.com.