Proctor Creek Watershed Awareness & Action Day

2013 Cox Conserves Hero Award Nomination by Imran Battla

Now a four year volunteer for the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, I am thrilled at the opportunity to be nominated for the 2013 Cox Conserves Hero Award. Created in partnership with The Trust for Public Land & Cox Enterprises, Cox Conserves Heroes recognizes local environmental volunteers and makes donations to local nonprofits on their behalf.

The national program takes place in cities across the county. The public nominates volunteers using a brief online form. Next, a panel of local environmental leaders selects three finalists who are profiled on video. The public then watches the videos, gets inspired and votes for their favorite. 

This is the 5th year the Cox Conserves Heroes program has taken place in Atlanta. In fact, WAWA's very own board chair Na'Taki Osborne-Jelks, was nominated and won in 2011!!! See below for her inspiring video.

 

As you can imagine, it is quite the honor for me to follow in her footsteps by continuing to advocate for a healthier, cleaner and greener West Atlanta community. For a chance to see my video and an opportunity to continue to support the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, click on this link. In the past four years I have facilitated in over $140,000 in direct improvements to over 300 acres of stewarded areas in West Atlanta by providing a suite of support services for WAWA, from concept design to project implementation, monitoring, reporting, and verification of data collected, to the procurement process for grant funding, social media outreach and volunteer orientation and staff management.

With this award, WAWA will be able to have an even bigger impact, especially when it comes to supporting frontline leaders in the Proctor Creek community. Stay tuned for more updates!

Urban Waters Federal Partnership Comes to Proctor Creek

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) joins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with additional federal and community partners to reconnect West Atlanta communities with their urban waterways, while improving the water quality and restoring the ecosystems of the Proctor Creek Watershed. Proctor Creek is one of only 11 communities nationwide to be selected for the partnership.

WAWA Board Chair Na'Taki Osborne Jelks will highlight how the partnership will help restore the troubled waterway plagued by illegally dumped tires, high bacteria levels, pollution, and flooding into an asset for the community--- led by efforts of the watershed’s residents. While the availability of funding through the Urban Waters Federal Partnership is unclear, it will seek to promote more-efficient use of federal resources through better coordination and targeting of support for local groups. The Proctor Creek Watershed Stewardship Council will leverage these resources to restore degraded habitat, address illegal dumping and other pollution, promote public access to the watershed, and help manage stormwater and flooding that impacts Northwest Atlanta communities.

Where: Maddox Park Pavilion:  1142 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway NW Atlanta, GA 30318

When:  Friday, May 17, 2013, 11:15-11:45 am.

 What: Proctor Creek Urban Waters Federal Partnership announcement.

Who: Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, Chair of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance;

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed;

Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Water;

Stan Meiburg, Deputy Regional Administrator, EPA Region 4.

Join WAWA & Partners at the 7th Annual Urban Forest Festival

Looking for some FREE, family fun to kick off Spring Break???

You don't want to miss the 7th Annual Urban Forest Festival at the Outdoor Activity Center on Saturday,  April 6, 2013 from 11 am - 4 pm.

WAWA, the USDA Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Wildlife Federation invite you to celebrate Southwest Atlanta’s urban forests at this FREE, fun-filled event.

Families are invited to learn about Southwest Atlanta’s incredible urban forests and their wildlife inhabitants. We'll have educational and entertaining exhibits, live wildlife, guided hikes and tours of the 26-acre OAC urban forest, food, giveaways, and hands-on activities and demonstrations by WAWA, NWF’s Earth Tomorrow Program, the USDA Forest Service, and other partners. Plans also include playing forestry and wildlife games, making fun crafts, and learning outdoor skills. This event is a great way to kick off Spring Break!

The Outdoor Activity Center is located at 1442 Richland Rd. S.W., Atlanta, GA 30310. For more information, call (404) 752-5385 or send an e-mail to info@wawa-online.org.

Please RSVP at  http://2013urbanforestfestival.eventbrite.com
to be entered into a special drawing. You must be present to win.

School Field Trips to the Outdoor Activity Center

Visit the Outdoor Activity Center 

for your next field trip!!!

Our educational activities align to the Georgia Performance Standards & Common Core in fun and exciting ways!

Children get hands on experiences, which strengthen their understanding and aid in the achievement of the learning goals we cover.

They also make that all important connection to nature and the outdoors!

Our activities address the Major Concepts /Skills found in the K-8 life Sciences, the environmental science curriculum and many of the physical sciences:

Kindergarten concepts- living and non living things- differences between animals and plants

1^st grade concepts-Characteristics of living things and the basic needs of living things

2^nd grade concepts-life cycles

3^rd grade concepts-Habitats, features of Georgia’s organisms and pollution and conservation

4^th grade concepts-Ecosystems, food web/food chain and adaptation survival/extinction

5^th grade concepts-Classification of organisms, inherited traits/learned behaviors and cells & microorganisms

6th grade concepts-Impacts of weather climate on the earth, human impacts on the earth and energy sources

7th grade concepts- diversity of living organisms, ecosystems and fossils

8^th grade concepts-Nature of matter, Law of Conservation of Energy and Energy Transformation

High School Concepts address the concepts above in greater detail and with a focus on service learning!

Programs are facilitated by the 

West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

Act fast…Schools that register multiple grade levels may qualify for transportation assistance grants!

For more information contact us:

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

@ Outdoor Activity Center

1442 Richland Road Atlanta, GA 30310

404 7525385                        WWW.WAWAONLINE.ORG

Upcoming Meetings

Please make these important meetings on issues that effect our level of county representation. You need to understand the importance of House Bills 170, 171 and 172.  These Fulton County House and Senate Delegation Community Meetings are Scheduled:

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

6:30 P.M. 

Westlake High School

2400 Union Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30331

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

4:30 P.M. 

State Capitol – Room 341

Saturday, February 23, 2013

10:00 A.M. 

Cliftondale Arts Center Auditorium

4645 Butner Road, College Park, Georgia 30349

Monday, February 25, 2013

1:00 P.M. 

State Capitol – Room 341

Saturday, March 9, 2013

10:00 A.M. 

Welcome All Park Multipurpose Facility  

4255 Will Lee Road, College Park, Georgia 30349

WAWA is facilitating important meetings in the communities adjacent to Proctor Creek in North West Atlanta. The goal of these meetings is to establish a group of active and engaged community leaders to help educate other residents, work on beautification projects, encourage conservation and demonstrate stewardship ethics in several local parks and for Proctor Creek. 

Our first meeting in Atlanta City Council District 9/NPU G is February 28, 2013 6:00 PM at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church. For more information please call 404 752-5385! Other meetings in NPU's J, K and M are forthcoming!! 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join WAWA at the Inaugural Environmental Health Symposium

Join WAWA, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Atlanta Black Nurses Association at our Inaugural Social Justice, Environmental Justice and the Impact on Minority Health Symposium. We hope you will take this opportunity learn how social justice, public health, environmental justice and energy equity intersect and the impact it has on low income and communities of color. This event is free, but registration is required.

Friday, February 1, 2013 (8:45 am – 1pm)

Georgia State University Institute of Public Health

25 Park Place Atlanta, GA 30302 (located in the Suntrust Bank Building).