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News and events from Knox County Stormwater Management.
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Strong Streams Newsletter
Spring 2021

They got it done!

This year our CAC AmeriCorps team faced a unique set of challenges by navigating their year of service through a pandemic. Educational outreach was mostly put on hold, many public events were cancelled, and field work was limited by social distancing measures. Fortunately for us, the word “no” is not in their vocabulary. Despite these obstacles and the world turned upside down, our AmeriCorps team rose to the challenge and was able to continue to get things done!  

Number of hours served: over 6,000 

Miles of stream assessed: 44+

Storm drain outfalls surveyed:  700+

Adopt-A-Stream: awarded a TVA grant for new supplies and collected over 2595 lbs of trash 

Other notable accomplishments of our AmeriCorps members include hosting virtual outreach events such as Earth Day and Waterfest, creating a new campus spill kit survey for the EPW campus, growing our social media platforms and creating a new organizational plan for keeping up with county green infrastructure. We are thankful that these individuals are dedicated to service and spent a year of their time improving the Knox County environment.  


Stay Connected with Stormwater!
 
Past Events:
Tennessee Tree Day: We loved seeing those of you that picked up your trees for Tennessee Tree Day! Our site packed and handed out over 600 trees! We hope to see everyone again next year along with some new faces! 

Rainy Day Brush Off: In total, 31 different professional artists, amateurs, and school groups painted unique and beautiful designs on  rain barrels. For the month of April they were on display around Knoxville, Knox County, and Oak Ridge. Over 300 people visited the UT Gardens for the reception and viewed the rain barrels one last time before they were auctioned off. Knox County Stormwater and other members of the Water Quality Forum were present to show our support. All 31 barrels were sold, raising $2,433 for the Water Quality Forum.

  
 
Earth Day 2021: HIDDEN RIVERS: This year, we hosted a virtual screening of the Freshwaters Illustrated Film HIDDEN RIVERS in honor of Earth Day. The event raise funds for Conservation Fisheries and the Little River Watershed Association. We also had an opportunity to win some cool prizes provided by Freshwaters Illustrated! It was a fun event, but we hope to celebrate in person next year for Earth Day.

Future Events:
Cheers to Clean Water Paddle Off: The Paddle Off is back and will be held June 19th, 2021 from 11am-4pm. The Paddle Off will begin at Suttree Landing Park with your choice of a 5k or 8k race from 12-2pm followed by a reception at Printshop. Click here to register, the cost to race is $15, spaces are limited!
                                 
                                         
 

CAC AmeriCorps member Phil has managed and been apart of many different projects during his time with Knox County Stormwater. Most notably, overseeing the virtual showing of the film Hidden Rivers on Earth Day. Months of planning went into this event including setting up a raffle, finding speakers for the Q&A session, and practicing the event to minimize any technical issues. We had a great turnout and a successful event. We hope next year we can host an Earth Day event in person.

We are ahead of schedule on another one of Phil’s projects, dry weather screening. So far this term, we have completed over 600 inspections of storm drain outfalls during dry weather to detect pollution discharges. That is why we call it "dry weather screening." Luckily, we have found little to no illicit discharges during the inspections, and we are thankful that much of the county is helping keep our waterways clean.

Phil also works with the Land Development Division at EPW and flies a drone to capture aerial shots and helps create 3D models of constructions projects that the county is currently undertaking. He has enjoyed working with the drone and working with any sort of digital mapping projects. Phil has enjoyed his time with AmeriCorps and appreciates the valuable work experience that he has earned while serving.

What's in
Your Water?

Microplastics. You’ve probably heard the term before, but what are microplastics? Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastics that can be found in water. Microplastics enter into water through litter that has broken down over time. 
Humans and animals can sometimes consume microplastics in drinking water or by eating smaller organisms that have consumed microplastics. 

Microplastics are a new topic of interest and research. The full health effects of microplastics and how they will impact the environment have not yet been fully researched. You can reduce the amount of microplastics in the environment by limiting the amount of plastic you use, always recycling your used plastics, and participating in our Adopt-A-Stream cleanups! Download a free children's book about microplastics Poly's Pollution Problem


Say goodbye to our 2020-2021
CAC AmeriCorps members
and read about what they have accomplished this year!

Sean Melvin

Wow, this has been an amazing year serving with Knox County Stormwater! My favorite project while here has been managing the Knox County Adopt-A-Stream program.
 I not only helped AAS participants with their supplies and trash pickup, but I oriented new participants, teaching them about the program, water quality and citizen-based monitoring for pollution. I really enjoyed getting to build these relationships and help the environment all in one. My current plan after this term is over is to find a job in conservation and water resource protection.
I’m still searching, but I hope to find a career that is in line with my passion for the environment and helping the community, wherever that may be.  

Phil Abegg

Hey everyone! I have had an amazing time serving at Knox County Public Works. This position provided me with essential experience that I hope to use in a career. I really enjoyed going out and doing field work whether it be outfall inspections, stream quality surveys, or flying the drone. In the future, I plan to serve a second AmeriCorps term as a GIS technician with the National Parks and then hoping to get into graduate school. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with and wish them all good luck wherever they may end up.
 
Karalee Corbeil

I have really enjoyed the meaningful projects I participated in and managed while serving this term. And, the positive impact they’ve had on the community. We had a great team and I will cherish the friendships I made and all the laughs. My biggest accomplishment this year was organizing Tennessee Tree Day. It was a very rewarding project because it was one of the few events we could do in person so it was nice to see the people I was helping. Once my term is over I will be moving on to graduate school at Texas A&M in the Water Management and Hydrologic Science program.  
Kait Klema

My service this year has been split between both Knox County Stormwater and the Knox County Soil Conservation District, which has allowed me to contribute to a variety of projects at both sites. I have helped the Stormwater Team with field work like dry weather screening (checking outfalls for illicit discharges) and visual stream assessments, as well as with events and outreach throughout the year, such as planning TN Tree Day with Karalee and our Hidden Rivers Earth Day Event with Phil. When we couldn’t get out due to weather or vehicle trouble, my biggest project has been supporting the County’s Floodplain Program by organizing the floodplain development permits and FEMA Flood Insurance Program documentation, making hundreds of our hard copy documents available for digital reference. At Soil Conservation District where I support general operations through map-making, project documentation, managing social media, and representing the SCD at various education/outreach events such as WaterFest and an Ag field day.

  
Visit our website at knoxcounty.org/stormwater to learn more about our programs and where to get your questions answered. Visit our Facebook page to keep up to date on all the latest happenings on the streams of Knox County.
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Knox County Stormwater Management 
205 W. Baxter Ave. 
Knoxville, TN 37917
Email: Stormwater@knoxcounty.org
Website: knoxcounty.org/stormwater/strong_streams
Phone: (865) 215-5540
Copyright © 2016 Knox County Stormwater, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
stormwater@knoxcounty.org


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Knox County Stormwater Management · 205 W. Baxter Ave. · Knoxville, TN 37917 · USA

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