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Welcome to Adopt-A-Stream

The City of Roswell is located on the banks of the beautiful Chattahoochee River, named by the Creek Indians, meaning “river of painted rock.” 

It rises out of the rocks in the Blue Ridge Mountains, trickles through forest as it flows southwest and south to mingle its waters with the Flint, and rolls into the sea more than 500 miles from its birth.

Centuries later, as our population has grown, the Chattahoochee has become the most endangered natural resource in metro Atlanta. More than 4 million residents depend on 300 million gallons a day for water supply and discharge of wastewater.

The Adopt-A-Stream program partners volunteers, community groups, and the City of Roswell Environmental Department in an effort to preserve and protect the surrounding waterways we rely on for drinking water, recreation, power, and agriculture.  By adopting a local waterway, you are monitoring the health of the water, the surrounding vegetation, and the habitats of the area. 

What is Adopt-A-Stream?
AAS is a unique effort to involve public and local communities in water quality protection. AAS is a Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division program designed to protect the quality of water of the 70,000 miles of streams and rivers in Georgia using citizen monitoring teams.

To adopt a section of a stream, river or lake, volunteers must attend a workshop hosted by one of the more than 50 trainers throughout the state. Group members must be recertified annually by their local trainer to continue monitoring their local waterway.

Goals of Georgia Adopt-A-Stream

  • Increase public awareness of the state's nonpoint source pollution and water quality issues
  • Provide citizens with the tools and training to evaluate and protect their local waterways
  • Encourage partnerships between citizens and their local government
  • Collect quality baseline water quality data

Levels of Involvement of Adopt-A-Stream

Chemical Monitoring

What do you monitor in Chemical Adopt-A-Stream?
The basic tests are pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Advanced tests include phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, alkalinity, and conductivity.

Why is it important to conduct chemical tests on your local waterway?
All of the tests will give you a snapshot of the health of your local waterway. For instance, dissolved oxygen is needed for respiration, temperature is directly related to biological activity and pH measures the acidity or alkalinity of the water. Phosphates and nitrates are nutrients that cause algal blooms when present in excess

How often do you need to conduct these chemical tests?
Once a month.

Biological Monitoring


What is biological monitoring?
Biological monitoring is sampling an inventory of macroinvertebrates in your local stream.

Why is this type of monitoring important?
Macroinvertebrates living in the stream can tell you the overall health of the stream. It is important to find a diversity of macroinvertebrates and the presence of macroinvertebrates indicate both water and habitat quality.

When should you conduct your biological monitoring?
Quarterly or once every season.


   
   
   
For more information and to adopt-a-stream, please contact Vicki Culbreth, Environmental Education Specialist for the City of Roswell at vculbreth@roswellgov.com or 770-641-3742

 
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