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The Harpeth River Watershed Association
The Harpeth River Watershed Association (HRWA) is a 501(c)(3) not for profit conservation organization. HRWA’s mission is to restore and protect the ecological health and biodiversity of the Harpeth River system for the people, fish, and wildlife that depend on it by building an organization that provides scientific and technical foundation to efforts to improve and protect the river system and when applicable to influence statewide water policy.

We have four major program areas:

1) River Restoration - Preserving the Balance by:

Addressing damaging stormwater runoff in high development areas. Preventing further erosion, particularly in our rapid growth corridors Stabilizing creek banks and river banks.

2) Wildlife Protection - Protecting the Ecosystem by:

Technically assessing of our watershed's unique habitats. Identifying pollution sources. Safeguarding dozens of unique species that exist nowhere else on Earth.

3) Policy and Planning - Promoting Smart Solutions by:

Ongoing scientific studies of nutrient levels and water quality issues in the ----watershed. Assisting local governments and state-wide agencies in crafting ordinances and ----regulations. Encouraging collaboration among public and private organizations to gain ----consensus on shared concerns.

4) Education and Outreach - Providing Information and Expertise by:

Conducting presentations for developers and local leaders on lessening the impact ----of growth on water quality. Teaching residents how they can make their homes and yards more "river- ---friendly." Training classroom teachers and mentors to work with kids in educational ----settings.

 

 

The Harpeth River Watershed Association (HRWA) in middle Tennessee is dedicated to preserving and restoring the ecological health of the Harpeth River and its Watershed. Our work leverages the scientific and technical training and experience of our staff and advisors with the efforts of a diverse corps of volunteers who are crucial to every aspect of our programs.

Our board members, volunteer leadership, and hundreds of supporters are county commissioners, local city staff and officials, government agency staff, concerned citizens, farmers, business leaders, scientists, engineers, and community leaders who share our commitment to having an ecologically healthy river.

Our approach involves seeking to understand all perspectives and working collaboratively with a wide range of interests to yield long lasting and practical results. Though we are not confrontational in style, we actively confront roblems with solutions based on scientific studies such as our groundbreaking sediment study and our stream assessment survey.

With a community effort, we can restore and maintain a healthy and biologically important river in the heart of one of the fastest growing regions of the U.S.

The HRWA relies on the support of its members and generous individuals and corporations to provide critical funding that supports scientific and technical staff and gives flexibility to program work.

HRWA’s Long-Term Commitment to Watershed Health

The scientific and technical staff of the Harpeth River Watershed Association, advised by a broad range of experts and assisted by trained volunteers, are working to assess water quality and stream habitat. This lays the groundwork for long-term improvements in river health. Founded in 1999, the HRWA is the only organization which focuses its efforts on the entire Harpeth River, from its birth in Rutherford County to its union with the Cumberland River along the border of Dickson and Cheatham Counties. The HRWA is committed to re-building and maintaining the ecological balance of our watershed diversity amidst the various human uses of the landscape. We are doing this by forging partnerships in order to provide information, training, and activities that enable homeowners, landowners, families, farmers, businesses, researchers, and government agencies to directly enhance areas of the watershed.

Pioneering sediment study
How muddy is the Harpeth River? Construction sites with poor erosion control are a major source of sediment, or “mud,” as are eroding streambanks. Once sediment accumulates in a stream it smothers wildlife and habitats, and negatively affects water flow patterns. In a two-year study designed by the Cumberland River Compact, HRWA’s trained volunteers measured sediment levels throughout the watershed, clearly establishing that sediment is the Harpeth’s top water quality problem. Sites along the main Harpeth and Little Harpeth downstream from Franklin, Brentwood, and Bellevue were 3 to more than 15 times muddier than near-pristine sites located in the headwaters of the South Harpeth. A follow-up study of streambank erosion is now in progress.

Assessing streambank conditions
The plants and trees along streambanks provide vital functions for the health of the river by filtering runoff water from adjacent land and providing cooling shade. In 2001, HRWA-trained volunteers assessed and photographed 217 sites on nearly all of the streams classified as “impaired” by the state. More than half the sites, whether in developed or agricultural areas, had little to no streambank vegetation.

River Restoration Program—You can help
HRWA has initiated a number of pilot projects in neighborhoods, parks, farms, and on private property around the Harpeth to restore endangered streambanks. With our volunteer corps, we can provide valuable assistance in labor, equipment, and expertise. Contact us to learn how you or your company, classroom, scout troop, or church group can participate!

Facilitating better practices for growth
The HRWA is working with a range of private and government partners on land use planning and encouraging the use of better development and road design, more effective erosion control, infiltration stormwater designs, improved stream buffers, greater water and energy efficiency, and other long-term solutions.

Funding

The HRWA relies on the support of its members and generous individuals and corporations to provide critical funding that supports scientific and technical staff and gives flexibility to program work.

Highlights of the Work We Have Done

• Conducted several stream restoration projects.
  
• Designed and conducted the first watershed-wide assessment of stream habitat health and erosion problems, with trained volunteers cataloguing over 200 sites during the fall of 2001. This assessment was funded, in part, with Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Nonpoint Source Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  
• Former Board President, Mike Walton, conducted the first survey on erosion and habitat quality for the entire length of the Harpeth River, featured in the Williamson A.M. on May 22, 2001.
  
• Hired its first Executive Director in July 2001 with a grant from River Network and opened an office in Franklin.
  
• Raised money to print the first map for the Harpeth River watershed, produced by the Cumberland River Compact. The map indicates and describes which streams and segments of the Harpeth are considered "impaired" according to the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation and the 2002 303(d) list of impaired streams.
  
• Launched the first volunteer sediment study for the Harpeth River with over 30 sites in collaboration with the Cumberland River Compact (CRC).. The CRC designed this study because high silt content in the river after heavy rain was identified as a key concern by people at public meetings held by the CRC in 1999.
  
• Co-sponsored with the Cumberland River Compact the first watershed workshop for science teachers in Williamson County.