"The goal of the workshop was to educate citizens about soil erosion and sedimentation and how to identify problems at construction sites and what they can do about it," said Riverkeeper's Headwaters Conservation Director Darcie Holcomb, who helped run the workshop.
"The number one thing I'd like people take from the workshop is the fact that they have the resources available to them to make a difference; that they can make phone calls, or document a problem and do something about it," said Technical Programs Coordinator Alice Champagne, who was Holcomb's co-leader.
The workshop included descriptions of the law from the federal Clean Water Act to local ordinances; it showed the reasons for the law, what good and bad sites look like, who to turn to about problems, and how to keep records that make a case that will communicate what has been found.
The workshop included materials including information guides to allow participants to keep an eye out for questionable practices and to forward information to authorities.
After, and sometimes during, the presentation, Holcomb and Champagne took questions and input from those present, including Sherry Schlereth and John Cornelson, Gainesville residents who came to learn how to combat problems on Lake Knickerbocker, where they have homes.
Said Cornelson, "We've seen significant silting coming down a little creek that's right next to our house...There's a development going on up the hill that's pumping silt into the lake. That's a minor problem compared to the impact the DOT has had on two blowouts on Ledan Road."
Schlereth is also concerned about the silt issue. "We have watched it over eight years begin to really fill up and become more or less a bog and dry land and so I came tonight to find out what I could do...what options we have a homeowners and residents of Hall County and Gainesville."
"I learned actually a lot of things...that I didn't know before," she said after the meeting, "Actually it was kind of an empowering kind of thing. I figured I'd get a lot of information, but I feel oddly empowered that I as just one citizen can do more than I thought i could."
Cornelson said that his community association was gathering April 7th at the First Presbyterian Church about their problem. Holcomb said that because demand was so high for the workshop that they had to turn people away, Riverkeeper will add a second workshop to take place at the same location on April 13th.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/3/137604