HRWC is a local, non-governmental, conservation nonprofit organization whose mission is to facilitate water quality improvements in lakes and streams throughout the upper Hiwassee River watershed within Cherokee and Clay counties in NC and Towns and Union counties in north GA.  For more than 10 years HRWC has provided water quality education, funding for and implementation of voluntary watershed restoration projects, services in coordinating communication between various agencies working in our area, watershed planning, and opportunities for citizens to volunteer. The HRWC leadership believes that for water resources to truly be protected, citizens within a watershed must understand and participate in protection and restoration efforts; however, the organization does not get involved in legislative or political campaign advocacy.

HRWC currently has four major program areas:

Watershed Restoration, Lake/Watershed Planning,

Water Quality Education and Volunteer Opportunities.

 

HRWC and its projects are completely supported by membership dues, donations, local funding, and grants.  Annual individual memberships start at just $25; small business and organizational memberships start at $100.

 

Recent Accomplishments (past 3-5 years) include:

• Published the Lake Chatuge Watershed Action Plan following a 4-year study of Lake Chatuge. [HRWC is currently working to implement plan's management objectives.]

• Completed restoration of more than 7.5 miles of stream and river in the Brasstown Creek and Valley River watersheds to reduce bank erosion and failure, and improve aquatic habitat. [HRWC continues to work with willing landowners to conduct stream restoration activities in priority watersheds.]

• Completed three years of monitoring and comprehensive evaluation of stream restoration work that was previously conducted in the Brasstown Creek watershed.

• Collected monthly water samples at 20 locations in the Lake Chatuge and Lake Nottely watersheds. [HRWC's  volunteer monitoring program, Ani'ama', is ongoing.]

• Worked with TVA and Towns County government to install stormwater best management practices at the Towns County Swim Beach, pavilion and playground.

• Helped coordinate the development of the Marble Springs Outdoor Education Area in Cherokee County, NC.  [HRWC is still working under a grant from the NC Section 319 Program to insure that the final design for MSOEA is completed in 2008.]

• Assisted with development of a voluntary incentive program for developers to use conservation-based development practices. 

• Held a weeklong summer water quality camp for rising 6th graders in north Georgia for two consecutive years.

• Provided a lost cost rental program to farmers for a no-till grain drill. [HRWC's drill can still be rented at a low cost at Peachtree Farm & Home Supply.]

• Logged more than 850 hours of volunteer time annually for the past three years!

For more about our many partnerships, including links to other agencies, click here.