Panel aims to clean waterways

The Columbia County Clean and Beautiful Advisory Committee began searching Thursday April 17 for ways to focus greater attention on cleaning up the county's streams.

Committee member Sam Booher said tests have shown that all the streams in Columbia County fail to meet water quality standards. He said he did not know why the streams failed.

"That's why we need an Adopt-a-Stream program," Booher said.

Lillian-Katharine Blanos, executive director of Columbia County Clean & Beautiful, said several schools already have adopted streams. "They learn about erosion, sediment, runoff, chemicals," she said.

Some schools have kits to test the water and send the results to environmental officials. But she said not all the schools have the kits.

Board member Ernie Blackburn, a home builder, said the Columbia County Home Builders Association recently agreed to donate $900 to the committee to buy more testing kits.

The advisory committee announced during the meeting that Walden Glen Apartments at 336 North Belair Road, Evans, won the Point of Pride award for April. The award is given monthly to a business that has made the greatest improvements to its grounds.