Carolina Clear launches online watershed tools

Published: September 21, 2010

Carolina Clear image by: Carolina Clear

NORTH CHARLESTON — Carolina Clear, Clemson University’s stormwater education and awareness program, has launched two online tools for citizens, organizations and companies interested in water quality, responsible development and environmental stewardship.

A watershed stewardship mapping tool helps connect volunteers with groups that seek to protect and restore watersheds. A low-impact development atlas is a resource for communities and organizations looking to promote low-impact development practices related to stormwater and growth.

The launch of these tools was made possible through partnership with Clemson Computing and Information Technology.

A watershed is the area where all of the water that drains from the land goes into the same point on a stream, lake or other water body. In South Carolina, watersheds are located in eight major river basins: Broad, Catawba, Edisto, Salkahatchie, Saluda, Santee, Savannah and Pee Dee, all of which contain sub-basins.

Concerned residents can be watershed stewards, and there are many roles to play, said Katie Giacalone, Carolina Clear’s statewide coordinator.

For example, residents interested in wildlife habitat may want to help restore shorelines and wetlands. Those who are interested in fishing may want to get involved in reporting sediment erosion, which can harm the ecological health of a stream.

The watershed stewardship mapping tool has a list of organizations that support and manage local watershed issues and offer watershed-related volunteer opportunities to the public. The list is mapped by geographic coverage so users can identify volunteer opportunities in their communities.

There are many organizations across the state that offer opportunities to get involved in such local watershed activities as monitoring, cleanups and habitat-restoration projects, Giacalone said.

The low-impact development atlas was developed by the National NEMO Network (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials). The South Carolina map is produced by South Carolina NEMO in partnership with the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, Clemson University and ACE Basin and North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserves.

The NEMO program was created in 1991 at the University of Connecticut to help local decision-makers understand the connection between the decisions they make and water quality.

The goal of the program is to share information among communities and organizations to promote low-impact development projects that protect natural resources while accommodating growth.

“Linking volunteers to organizations and encouraging stewardship helps protect and restore our valuable water resources for future generations,” Giacalone said. “New low-impact development practices are happening right here in South Carolina, demonstrating community commitments to clean water supplies."

END

Carolina Clear
Carolina Clear is a stormwater education and awareness program of the Clemson University Restoration Institute and the Center for Watershed Excellence. The program’s goal is to minimize polluted stormwater runoff by educating the general public, youth, builders, developers, homeowners and government officials about how they can keep water in the state’s streams, rivers and basins as clean as possible.