Couple work to improve program

Mike Reardon and his wife Robin got involved with Columbia County Adopt-A-Stream in 2007 after reading about the program in The Columbia County News-Times.

//

Today, Mike Reardon serves as one of the county's two certified trainers and is working to give the county's Adopt-A-Stream program a new lease on life.

"I have always enjoyed being outdoors and around streams and creeks, but at the age of 46, I have little call to go 'play in the creek' any longer," said Reardon. "So it is something I really enjoy doing with the added bonus of it having a purpose."

Reardon said he and his wife feel strongly that everyone should do something for their community. The couple moved back to the area more than two years ago and said the Adopt-A-Stream program really seemed to be the best community-involvement activity for them.

"As an individual with environmental responsibilities at a manufacturing facility that has a strong environmental history, I have been interested in our creeks and streams and what is discharged into them for several years," Reardon said. "The company I work for also encourages its plant locations, and individuals at the location, to become involved in community efforts and the (Adopt-A-Stream program) was a very good fit for that."

With the Adopt-A-Stream program, individuals can spend as little or as much time as it takes to get the job done.

Individuals can help the certified volunteers collect data, which can take anywhere from 45 minutes to four hours, Reardon said.

He noted that individuals can become certified Adopt-A-Stream monitors, which requires that they go to the stream site once a month to collect either chemical data, microbiological data or conduct visual surveys.

"On the average, about two hours a month, plus another 15 to 20 minutes to enter the data," said Reardon, adding that certified volunteers must attend at least two classes each year and pass a written test. The classes last about five hours each.

Reardon and Ray Sprankle serve as the county's certified trainers and teach the Adopt-A-Stream training classes.

"Creeks and streams are much like the canary in the coal mine," Reardon said. "The health of the stream is a good indication of the health of the environment around it.

"Columbia County is a rapidly growing community and there are many opportunities for this growth to have a negative effect on the environment. By monitoring the area creeks and streams, we get an indication of how well we are avoiding those negative effects."

Data collected by stream monitors goes to the Georgia AAS database, but any concerns go directly to the Columbia County government.

Reardon said volunteers always are needed. For information about the Columbia County Adopt-A-Stream program, or to become a volunteer, contact Keep Columbia County Beautiful Coordinator Jenny Hinton at (706) 312-7195.