| A clean water guardian is any homeowner or construction, forestry, or agricultural site that is doing its part to protect Alabama's coastal waters from polluted runoff. |
Construction, agricultural, and forestry sites—and even homeowners—most likely will hear from coastal resource managers if they negatively impact the environment, but they often do not get recognition when they are environmentally responsible. A program in Alabama is promoting best management practices (BMPs) at industry sites and homes, and is recognizing those individuals, businesses, and municipalities that incorporate them to protect water quality.
"This started out when a citizens' group recognized a construction site for using BMPs. They responded that they had never been recognized for doing the right thing," says Jody Scanlan, environmental assistant with the Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center. "We saw a need to positively recognize these types of actions."
What has evolved is the Clean Water Guardians program. A clean water guardian is any homeowner or construction, forestry, or agricultural site that is doing its part to protect Alabama's coastal waters from polluted runoff, Scanlan says. Guardians receive a sign to place on their property and are publicly recognized for their efforts.
"It's a way to positively reinforce the use of BMPs," she says. "We focused on nonpoint source pollution because around Mobile Bay, that's our biggest problem."
The program began as the Dog River Watershed Guardian project. After receiving a grant from the World Wildlife Fund, the Marine Extension and Research Center was able to expand the program's scope to include forestry and agricultural sites in the state's two coastal counties. They took ideas from a similar program at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Fairhope, Alabama, adapting many of the questions on the reserve's application, which had already gone through a review process.
To become a clean water guardian, homeowners or site managers either apply or are nominated. The applications are different for each category, but primarily are a checklist of best management practices. A team of local industry experts visits the nominated sites and approves the final selections, Scanlan says. Winners are selected twice a year.
She notes that the homeowner applications aren't as "strictly viewed as the other applications. It's more of an honor-type system where they say they will do these five things."
Once a site is selected as a clean water guardian, a two-foot-by-three-foot reflective aluminum sign is erected. Homeowners receive a corrugated plastic yard sign. The media is encouraged to promote the good works of the guardians through press releases and media events.
In the year the program has been in place, Scanlan notes, 33 homeowners and one construction, one agricultural, and two forestry sites have been selected for the honor.
"They are very, very pleased to get recognition for the work that they do to keep the soil in place, or keep pollutants out of the water," Scanlan says. "And it's not just the managers. The workers at the site take pride in it and are very pleased."
She adds, "It's fairly easy to do and it instills a sense of ownership in the watershed. It lets people know that their front yard is connected to the water. It's been more successful than I ever imagined."
For more information on Alabama's Clean Water Guardians program, point your browser to www.ag.auburn.edu/dept/faa/aumerc/. You may also contact Jody Scanlan at (251) 438-5690 or jscanlan@aces.edu.
