Visit the LEARN MORE button to go to the join, donate, or renew options for the Broad River Watershed Association. Stay connected to learn about and stay involved with activities and events.
We see you Save The Broad! Thank you for your work organizing to action and doing a deep dive to find out more about Wastewater Treatment, Rendering Plants, and potential impacts in our watershed. As BRWA is working in a technical capacity to serve protection of our beloved river, we encourage everyone to come together collectively in support with Save The Broad.
BRWA has established contacts with this group. For information sharing and collective engagement it will be the channel of communication to serve the expanded interest on the proposed permit for Franklin Springs.
PLEASE MAKE DONATIONS TO SAVE THE BROAD THROUGH OUR PAYPAL DONATE BUTTON UNDER THE RESOURCE PROTECTION FUND DESIGNATION DROP DOWN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT !
The Broad River Watershed Association (est. 1991) is a non-profit, regional land trust dedicated to the protection and management of the Broad River and its watershed in northeast Georgia.
To preserve the Broad River as a free-flowing river system and to support land use compatible with the maintenance of water quality, scenic rural character, and the preservation of sensitive natural and historic areas and wildlife habitat.
The Land Trust is a community based organization providing creative resource management strategies by working with land owners and land management agencies, by accepting and managing conservation easements and donations of property, and by increasing public awareness.
The Broad River is among the last free-flowing rivers in Georgia. It flows south from its headwaters in Banks and Stephens Counties through Madison and Elbert Counties to its confluence with the Savannah River at the Clarks Hill/Strom Thurmond Reservoir.
The Broad River is critical to the health and economic well-being of the citizens of northeast Georgia. It provides drinking water for the cities of Royston and Franklin Springs and it is an industrial and agricultural water supply for the region.
The Broad River Watershed is approximately 944,000 acres and includes parts of thirteen counties:
Banks, Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Hall, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Oglethorpe, Stephens, and Wilkes. Though parts of Lincoln and Hall Counties are technically in the watershed they are generally not included in the study area for watershed projects. Only a small sliver of Hall County (if that) drains into the Broad and the parts of Lincoln County that are in the watershed drain directly into Clarks Hill Reservoir. See Maps
The Broad River Watershed is in better condition than a lot of Piedmont rivers, but its threats are not taken lightly by its residents. Agricultural non-point source pollution, effluent from septic systems, landfill leachate, litter, construction in the floodplain, riverbank erosion, destruction of the vegetative buffer, lack of tributary protection, and poorly planned development all pose threats to the river. Additionally, lack of public access to the river encourages trespassing which contributes to the degradation of river banks and destruction of vegetation.
