CoveKeepers Meeting Held at Anderson County Museum

The Lake Hartwell Association (LHA) is a non-profit organization with a membership of over 2000 families and businesses.  Its main purpose is to protect the quality and quantity of water resources on Hartwell Lake and its watershed.  (www.lakehartwellassociation.org)  The LHA sponsors many volunteer programs, one of which is the CoveKeepers.  Their mission is to be good neighbors and to promote good lake stewardship.

CoveKeepers held their most recent meeting at Anderson County Museum on January 26.  Professor Larry Dyck, founder and chairman of the program, introduced the main speaker for the meeting which was Rebecca Spratlin from DHEC.  She is the Watershed Manager for the Savannah River Basin (SRB) and the Saluda River. The majority of Ms. Spratlin’s presentation included a very informative tour of the DHEC website specifically pertaining to ‘WATER’.  She demonstrated how to navigate through the many and varied offerings that are available including “clickable” maps of the watersheds, information on how to maintain your septic system, suggested outreach materials, and water quality assessments, just to name a few.  (www.SCDHEC.gov)

Shoreline management and what can be done to manage storm water runoff was also a topic of discussion during the presentation.  Ms. Spratlin made suggestions such as planting appropriate bushes or grasses in a buffer zone from the water’s edge to several feet into the water or developing a rain garden around gutters to slow down the water movement.
Ms. Spratlin mentioned the EPA website and a recently modernized version of STORET.  The STORET (short for STOrage and RETrieval) Data Warehouse is a repository for water quality, biological, and physical data and is used by state environmental agencies, EPA and other federal agencies, universities, private citizens, and many others. The web address is www.epa.gov/storet. One should always be sure to check with the Corps of Engineers Ranger before making any changes or additions to the public area below the Corps property line.

The last topic of the evening was Section 319 of the Federal Clean Water Act which has in place a national program to control nonpoint source pollution (NPS).  Nonpoint source pollution is caused by the runoff from rain and snowmelt carrying pollutants into waterways.  The name ‘nonpoint source pollution’ comes from the concept that there is no single point from which the pollution comes; it comes from everyone and everywhere.  Under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, NPS pollution control promotes practices to protect watersheds and is largely voluntary.

In the following photo Prof. Larry Dyck introduces Rebecca Spratlin, DHEC, to the CoveKeepers in attendance.

Photo by Petra Massey