Waterways encompass various types of bodies of water, like rivers, streams, and lakes, as well as human-made features like canals and reservoirs.
Healthy waterways and watersheds are vital for a healthy environment and economy, providing essential resources like drinking water, supporting agriculture, industry, and wildlife. Here in Chattanooga, it also offers several outdoor recreational opportunities. They also play a crucial role in ecosystem functions like nutrient cycling, flood control, and water filtration.
Chattanoogans are fortunate to have an organization that champions the call for making sure these watersheds remain healthy.
The WaterWays celebrated their 20th anniversary last year. The organization, founded by long-time Chattanooga resident Mary Beth Sutton, started their programs in 2004, first in St. Lucia and then here in the Scenic City. Their mission is to bring awareness and stewardship to the waterways and teach others about the importance of maintaining clean and vital water systems and encourage them to take positive actions to help our waterways.
“And we do that through education, through restoration projects, and through a lot of community action. It takes everybody working together,” said Sutton, who is the Executive Director of the organization.
Locally, WaterWays is involved in educational programs and restoration projects across Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Globally the organization continues to work in St. Lucia and other Caribbean countries.
With a master’s in education as well as Environmental Chemistry and Biology, Sutton said she feels more at home while working in the great outdoors.
“I realized I didn't want to be stuck in a lab,” she said.
In the fields, Sutton and a team of volunteers and students from local schools collect a variety of data. She said they recently installed litter traps in different creeks, and they are working with the city and Osprey Initiative to develop a Master Plan for litter reduction.
A master plan would help them determine where the litter hot spots are and what or who is creating them.
According to the Department of Transportation, a major contributor of litter comes from the runoff water from bridges where trash washes into the creeks. Other trouble spots are from people not picking up after themselves, and, in some instances, from homeless encampments.
Many of WaterWays’ educational programs offer hands-on learning experiences about aquatic biodiversity, basic water quality, pollution, basic nature science, cleaning tips and more.
Sutton said she is proud that WaterWays is an organization of action.
"We don't just talk about doing stuff,” she said. “We're out installing litter traps, installing native plants, adding plants to the riparian zones, the area next to creeks and rivers, and teaching other people how to do it.”
In addition to partnering with community volunteers and students, WaterWays partners with local corporate organizations that are looking to make improvements as well.
One such company is Komatsu.
"They're fixing a couple of erosion issues they've got and stormwater issues and picking up trash and getting rid of invasive plants on their property, which will lead them to getting a Rain Smart Yard Award only for their residential properties,” she said. “And that will lower their stormwater fees in the city.” Corporations can also apply for Green Grants through the City to reduce their stormwater runoff.
RainSmart Yards is a collaboration with the City of Chattanooga focused on reducing stormwater runoff from residential properties.
"If you get certified as a Rain Smart yard through us, you can get your stormwater fee reduced,” she said.
Other projects include reintroducing native plants to our area. Non-native, invasive species can disrupt an entire ecosystem, Sutton said.
"They haven't grown up here so to speak,” she said. “They don't have the right pollinators; they don't have the right food stuff. They will outcompete with other native plants which provide food for pollinators and other native creatures. Native plants tend to have longer roots, which hold the soil together, and transports the stormwater down further into the soil. If we don't start planting more native plants and getting our rainwater into the soil, our streams are all going to dry up.”
She said homeowners should plant native grass and plants in their yards.
"Homeowners can be the best advocates for taking care of pollinators, for using native plants, and for redirecting the stormwater,” she said. “Put a little garden on the downslope of your lawn full of native plants. You can still have your grass but let that water run-off into a native plant garden and let that water infiltrate. The native plants and the soil will filter most pollutants out of there. And will thrive without yard chemicals.”
She said developers also need to create sustainable plans that include green spaces to maintain proper drainage areas to avoid flooding downhill neighbors during major rainstorms.
Being a non-profit, WaterWays relies on grants, donations and volunteers.
The organization operates a store called the Gear Closet. They sell new and used outdoor gear for water sports, rock climbing, camping, backpacking, snow sports, cycling and much more. All the profits go back into the organization to support their programs and activities. Sutton said people can donate items or place them in the store on consignment.
Each year a group of steadfast volunteers travel to Manchester, TN after the annual Bonnaroo Festival and collect all the usable items festival goers leave behind, which helps the store raise more funds and prevents all the items from going to a landfill. It’s a partnership that’s still ongoing requiring more volunteers and more trucks each year.
The Gear Closet used to be off Riverfront Parkway but moved to Signal Mountain Road, where Sutton said they are more visible and receive more traffic. More importantly the Gear Closet has incredible people managing their Facebook Page engaging the community with plenty of humorous posts.
For more information on the WaterWays visit: mywaterways.org
Check out the Gear Closet's Facebook Page here: facebook.com/TheGearCloset