Rivers Alive 2012

Our biggest event of the year, Rivers Alive, is coming up in just a few short weeks.  We've been preparing for this and working with volunteers since July, and all our hard work and efforts are about to be unleashed on the rivers, lakes, and streams around Walton County.

A big SHOUT OUT and THANK YOU to all our scouts and volunteers who work so hard to help make this event possible!  We couldn't do it without y'all and we are so excited that you continue to participate year after year.  We're thrilled and humbled by how much support we have gained over the years and how much we've grown.

This year, we'll have roughly 350 volunteers cleaning the areas around the Briscoe Reservoir, Moore's Ford Bridge, the Alcovy and Appalachee rivers, and Matthew's Park.  These volunteers do an amazing job of keeping our rivers clean!

A little background on Rivers Alive...

Rivers Alive is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division's Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Program and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' Keep Georgia Beautiful Program, in cooperation with Help the Hooch, and is held annually each fall.  The mission is "to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources" (riversalive.org).

The program was conceived by Curtis Farrar in the early 90's.  The first cleanup was organized by the DNR Wildlife Division in 1992.  In 1993, the cleanup was spread across the various divisions of the DNR: Wildlife Resources, Environmental Protection, Coastal, and Water Resources and in the mid 90's, Georgia Adopt-A-Stream became the lead program.  Throughout the 90's, other agencies (government and non-government) organized and participated in their own local cleanups, but there was no collaboration between the various groups.  In 1999, these groups joined together in an effort to unify their cleanups forming, for the first time, Rivers Alive.  For the past 10 years, Rivers Alive has seen tremendous growth.

For more information about cleanups in your area or to read the Annual Reports, visit www.riversalive.org.