Coosa River Basin Initiative

Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI) is a 501(c)(3) grassroots environmental organization based in Rome, Georgia, with the mission of informing and empowering citizens to protect, preserve and restore North America's most biologically diverse river basin, the Coosa. Since 1992, the staff, board and members have served as advocates for "the wise stewardship of the natural resources of the Upper Coosa River basin, or watershed, which stretches from southeastern Tennessee and north central Georgia to Weiss Dam in Northeast Alabama. This includes the Coosa River, the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers and the tributaries of these waterways as well as the land drained by these streams and the air that surrounds this land area."

A member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, CRBI is also known as the Upper Coosa Riverkeeper. As such, they work to enforce the Clean Water Act, by monitoring pollution and polluters. When pollution problems are identified all necessary means, including legal action, are utilized to correct these problems.

As a member of the Georgia Water Coalition and Alabama Rivers Alliance, CRBI works to influence water resource policy in both Georgia and Alabama so that clean and plentiful water is available now and in the future. The organization works in four program areas: advocacy, education, water monitoring and restoration.

In addition to its Rome office, CRBI has a chapter organization, New Echota Rivers Alliance, which operates from Calhoun, Georgia and keeps watch over the Oostanaula River and its tributaries.

History
After a 1991 meeting in Keith, Georgia, with a consortium of citizens fighting local battles over everything from landfills to chipmills, Rome businessman, Jerry Brown, developed the vision of a regional organization that would fight environmental abuses in the Coosa River Basin, and CRBI was soon born. Its first success was stopping a landfill planned upstream from Weiss Lake.

CRBI originally operated through the work of dedicated volunteers in a small office in the back of Brown's business. CRBI has grown to become a visible presence in the decision-making processes concerning the region's natural resources.

Today, CRBI occupies a Broad Street office in downtown Rome's business district.

The organization employs full- and part-time staff who coordinate volunteers and work with a 15-member board of directors and a 6-member advisory board to design and implement advocacy, education, water monitoring, restoration and organizational development programs. More than 800 dues paying members support the organization with their money and volunteer services.

Accomplishments
Since its founding in 1992, CRBI's advocacy, education, restoration and water monitoring programs have helped improve water quality in the Coosa River Basin and have helped citizens better understand water resource issues. The organization's major accomplishments include:


 * Forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to uphold the Clean Water Act through a lawsuit requiring the EPA to set Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) on our impaired waterways. TMDLs limit the amount of non-point source pollution allowed to enter polluted waterways.
 * Won a $500,000 settlement against the developer of a large retail center, helping to protect streams and preserve habitat for endangered fish species.
 * Stopping a plan to “transfer” metro Atlanta, GA sewage to the Coosa River Basin by working successfully with state legislators forcing metro Atlanta communities to rethink their growth strategies.
 * Stopping the dumping of indigo dye in the Chattooga River by carpet manufacturers and the improper land application of wastewater sludge in Dalton.
 * Stopping a hot water discharge on Smith-Cabin Creek in Floyd County by Temple-Inland Paperboard & Packaging.
 * Defeating water legislation that would have allowed Georgia's water to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. CRBI worked closely with other environmental groups throughout Georgia in the Georgia Water Coalition to keep Georgia's water as a public resource.

Training hundreds of citizens to monitor rivers and creeks throughout the basin. Citizens collect data which is compiled by CRBI, the City of Rome, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and Alabama Water Watch. Trends in water quality are noted and any unusual findings are researched further to ensure no illegal activities are occurring that affect water quality.

Educating thousands of Coosa River Basin citizens in classrooms, civic meetings, public forums, workshops, print and broadcast media and in a quarterly newsletter, Mainstream.