{"id":21727,"date":"2020-05-10T14:59:55","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T18:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=21727"},"modified":"2023-09-26T12:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T16:36:39","slug":"lowndes-county-ga-stream-monitoring-and-stormwater-permit-2020-04-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/05\/lowndes-county-ga-stream-monitoring-and-stormwater-permit-2020-04-28.html","title":{"rendered":"Lowndes County, GA, Stream Monitoring and Stormwater Permit 2020-04-28"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update 2021-04-07<\/strong>:\r\n\r\n2020 ANNUAL REPORT, Lowndes County Impaired Streams Monitoring 2020-04-07<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nThese documents<\/a> answer some questions about what Lowndes County’s contractor\r\nis supposed to do for that\r\n$45,120.00 in Professional Services for Sampling, Monitoring and Reporting of Impaired Streams. \r\nThey raise a few more questions, such as what part of this plan required somebody so\r\nspecialized that only Lovell Engineering Associates had such a person?\r\n

\r\n\"[IMPAIRED<\/a>\r\n
IMPAIRED WATERS MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFor the weekly Fecal coliform samples, they’re going to use Flowers Lab of Madison, Florida,\r\nthe same that many other organizations use.\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n\"[Sample<\/a>\r\n
Sample Site Locations & weekly Fecal coliform via Flowers Lab<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThey’re only sampling Dissolved Oxygen (DO) monthly.\r\nThis does not require a special lab;\r\nit’s part of the regular Georgia Adopt-A-Stream training.\r\n

\r\nI thought in the\r\n\r\nRegular Session teleconference<\/a>\r\nsomebody said when Commissioner Orenstein asked why three months would cost so much,\r\nit was because the firm needs to buy instream dissolved oxygen monitoring equipment.\r\nBut the contract in the board packet says they will only sample DO monthly.\r\n

\r\n\"[Monthly<\/a>\r\n
Monthly Dissolved Oxygen (DO)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nWhy does this sampling cost so much?\r\n

\r\nWhat else are they sampling?\r\n

\r\n1: DO- Dissolved Oxygen, FC-Fecal Coliform, LLM- Low Level Mercury, Pb- Lead\r\n

\r\nMaybe mercury or lead require some sort of special expertise.\r\nI would guess they’re sending those samples off to a lab as well, though.\r\n

\r\nAlso in the\r\n\r\nRegular Session teleconference<\/a>\r\nsomebody said the annual cost would be about $68,000.\r\nThat number does not seem to be in the contract, nor in any of the other documents we have obtained.\r\n

\r\nThis is in the board packet:\r\n

\r\n\"[Standard<\/a>\r\n
Standard Rate Schedule & Monitoring Rates<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nWell, $300 a sample does cost a bit for many samples.\r\n

\r\nLAKE got the board packet through a second Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) request.\r\nThrough a second request we got three related documents.\r\n

\r\nLogistical (but not financial) details are in the\r\nIMPAIRED WATERS MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN in file\r\n2020-LC-IW-Monitoring-and-Implementation-Plan-Complete-Package-Final.pdf<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nThere is no overview, but each of the dozen stream segment writeups starts with this first one:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nIntroduction\r\n

\r\nAs part of General NPDES Stormwater Permit No GAG610000, Lowndes County is required to\r\nidentify any impaired waters located within its permitted area, using the latest approved\r\n305(b)\/303(d) List of Waters which contain MS4 outfalls or are within one (1) linear mile\r\ndownstream of MS4 outfalls. For those impaired waters, the permittee is required to propose a\r\nMonitoring and Implementation Plan for addressing each cause\/pollutant(s) of concern (POC).\r\n

\r\nAs of March 2020, the most recent approved 305(b)\/303(d) (2018)\r\nincluded a stream segment\r\nof the Alapaha River as not supporting its designated use within the\r\nCounty’s jurisdiction. See\r\nTable 1: Impaired Stream Segments.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\"[Map:<\/a>\r\n
Map: ALAPAHA RIVER (R031102021203) SAMPLING LOCATIONS<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nPermit No. GAG610000 is in this file:\r\nPhase-II-2017-final-permit.pdf<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nAlso obtained from Lowndes County via GORA is\r\nExisting Phase II MS4 Storm Water Management Program Template,\r\nin this file:\r\n2017-Phase_II_SWMP.pdf<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nBy “the most recent approved 305(b)\/303(d) (2018)” presumably they mean the 2018 version of\r\nGA-EPD Listing of Waterbodies, Clean Water Act Section 303(d),\r\nwhich EPD is\r\nupdating now<\/a>, with an online public meeting May 20 and an emailed comment deadline of June 4, 2020.\r\n

\r\nOn the one hand, it’s great that Lowndes County is doing (or having done)\r\nall this sampling.\r\n

\r\nOn the other hand, how will be public see the results?\r\nAnd when?\r\n

\r\nAll this data could be a very useful complement to sampling already going on by Valdosta, Lowndes County, WWALS, and several Florida agencies.\r\nUseful for determining when the streams are clean and when they are not,\r\nand useful for finding sources of contamination so something can be done.\r\n

\r\nBut this new data will only be useful if it is published in a timely manner,\r\nbest within a day of when the results are processed.\r\n

\r\nWhen I last talked to County Engineer Mike Fletcher, I told him I would get back to him after I perused these documents.\r\nSo I will ask him these and some other questions.\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>\r\n

The Documents<\/a><\/H4>\r\n

\r\nPrevious documents:\r\n