SAVE THE BROAD
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
Facebook page "Save Broad River" link https://www.facebook.com/groups/1232506785147037/
website https://www.savebroadriver.com/
NPDES Permits - National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
https://library.municode.com/ga/madison_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH26EN_ARTIVSOERSECO
Article IV of Madison County code describes soil erosion and sedimentation control. Section 26/103 has minimum requirements and 26.104 describes the application/permit process.
Docks aren't going to be permitted on the river. There have been several cases in the last 4-5 years along the Broad where people bulldozed access and put in concrete walls and steps and such and they were not only required to remove it but then to provide extensive remediation. It's far cheaper to first make sure any sort of new access is compliant with County and State guidelines!
Here's a link to the Madison County Planning and Zoning Commission: https://www.madisoncountyga.us/government-offices/planning-zoning/planning-zoning-commission
Here's Georgia state-level laws regarding construction along river corridors: https://casetext.com/regulation/georgia-administrative-code/department-391-rules-of-georgia-department-of-natural-resources/chapter-391-3-environmental-protection/subject-391-3-16-rules-for-environmental-planning-criteria/rule-391-3-16-04-criteria-for-river-corridor-protection
Attached document form UGA Law School Land Conservation Clinic produced for us last year, "Watershed Management Primer." There is some relevant information in there.
Attached is a GA EPD Stream Buffer Determination Guidance Document for your reference.
The GA EPD Northeast District Office is based in Athens: https://epd.georgia.gov/locations/epd-northeast-district-office
They can send you more info on the species within the river. They and the Madison County Planning and Zoning Commission can also give you guidelines for accessing the river that will be acceptable to meet river buffer requirements.
We also have this link on our website that lists fish species found in the Broad: https://brwa.org/fishes/
Here's a link to the USGS gauge on the Broad, just above Carlton. There are only 3 gauges on the river. This one is sort of our go-to for river height, flow, etc.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/02191300/#dataTypeId=continuous-00065-0&period=P7D&showMedian=false