Coosa River Basin Initiative

The Importance of Macroinvertebrates

August 21, 2023

What Are Macroinvertebrates? Macroinvertebrates serve as the ecological cleaning services in aquatic ecosystems. While the name may sound unfamiliar at first glance, Northwest Georgia is home to many macroinvertebrates you likely know, such as Crayfish, Mayflies, Dragonflies, Clams, Mussels, and more! While here these small and sometimes bothersome creatures may seem like little more than pests, they’re actually crucial to our rivers’ ecosystems. These organisms affect even our local water sources such as the Coosa River Basin and serve an…

Coosa River Basin Initiative Launches Campaign to Raise Awareness on the Impact of Microplastics on Freshwater and Public Health

October 19, 2023

Press Releases, Uncategorized

Rome, Ga.- In commemoration of their 30th anniversary as the Riverkeeper of the upper Coosa River basin, Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI) proudly announces the launch of a campaign aimed at educating the community about the detrimental effects of microplastics on freshwater ecosystems and public health. As a part of the microplastics campaign CRBI will co-host a ‘River Junk Sculpture’ class with Kingfisher Art Co. on November 2nd. The workshop will allow participants to make sculptures using plastic collected from…

Breaking Down the Facts About Microplastics

September 28, 2023

Advocacy, Blog Posts, Education, Restoration, Water Monitoring

Imagining a world without plastics may feel impossible considering what a staple they are in today’s society, yet their large scale production and use only dates back to the 1950s. Since then, their production has surpassed most other man-made materials. It has been estimated that between the 1950s and 2015, approximately 6300 million metric tons of plastic waste has been manufactured, 60% of which currently resides in landfills or the environment, including our water. While many people have heard about…

Why Test for E. coli? Here’s What You Need to Know…

August 2, 2023

Blog Posts, Lake Allatoona, Water Monitoring

Written by Courtnee Davenport Every year, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, CRBI sends out dedicated field techs to collect water samples from 30 boat ramps, public beaches, and rivers from Weiss Lake to Allatoona Lake for Swim Guide. The goal for collecting these samples is to find out how much E. coli is present in these popular recreational areas. In order to help our community better understand what E. coli is, where it comes from, and why it matters…

CRBI Celebrates 30 Years With a Summer Giveaway!

June 30, 2023

Blog Posts, Events

2023 is CRBI’s 30th anniversary year! We’ve accomplished a lot for clean water across our 5,500 square mile river basin with the support of our dedicated members over the last 3 decades! You can read more about our history here. We want to continue to expand our community of members as we head into the next 30 years so that we can accomplish even more for river basin. That’s why we’re doing a membership drive for the month of July…

Georgia textile mill agrees to stop PFAS pollution

May 11, 2023

Advocacy, Press Releases

Coosa River Basin Initiative, SELC reach resolution to protect downstream communities ROME, Ga. — In a victory for the health of Georgia’s Chattooga River, Alabama’s Weiss Lake, and downstream communities, a major textile mill in northwest Georgia has committed to permanently cease the use of PFAS and take action to reduce water pollution. Located on the Chattooga River, the textile mill discharged wastewater polluted with per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Trion, Georgia. Because…

Coosa River Basin Initiative

to protect, preserve, and restore one of North America’s most biologically diverse river systems

Is it safe to swim at your favorite spot?

Advocacy

Education

Water Monitoring

Restoration