Watershed Photo Reflection

Rowan Wiley

I consider this picture a point of pride.

In this picture, I see a simple sewer grate set into the side of the road with a label in front of it that says “NO DUMPING! DRAINS TO RIVER.”

What I notice in this picture is how clear the warning label. It is written in capital letters on a white background, is surprisingly large, and even has illustrations of water and a fish to emphasize the point.

This picture makes me think about rivers and streams and how they are constantly impacted by our bad choices. We are always dumping trash and other toxins into the waterways around us and think little of it.

When I look at this picture, I feel proud but also sad. I’m proud of the community for putting up a sign like this in an effort to remind us of the consequences of our actions. However, I also feel sad because I realize that we shouldn’t need a label there and that the only reason it is there is because we messed up in the past.

I think this picture is about us learning from our past mistakes and trying to do the right thing as we move forward.

Sam Greenwell Watershed Blog Post

1. In this picture, I see the culvert, which is one of the main places that the river flows through. Because the river as well as simple rain water flows into it, the entire hill is eroded.
2. What stuck out to me was the fact that the entire hill has turned into dead grass/dirt from the erosion. This monstrosity of a structure is an eyesore to the surrounding nature of the campus.
3. This picture makes me feel as if there is no point in rebuilding the landscape of the area around the culvert. Even the tree on the other side is struggling to handle the erosion on this hill. Someone who walks by would probably see it as something that isn just there, but doesn’t understand why it has put so much ware on the grass.
4. I feel a little dead inside when looking at this picture. The culvert has made this area a wasteland in the middle of a natural environment.
5. I think this picture highlights the inefficiencies with the culvert. It makes me wonder how just one torrential downpour would impact the surrounding hill.

Zach O’Connor – Watershed Reflection

  1. This picture shows the portion of Lilly Branch watershed that goes underground through a culvert.
  2. The one thing that struck out to me was how secluded the culvert was. Because this was so well hidden, I was surprised when I first came across this portion of the creek. Aside from its location, I was also surprised to see the area surrounding the culvert. It was very unnatural. The creek loses its natural aesthetic when it flows between the concrete. Since the area is surrounded by trees, it is difficult for light to shine on the creek. As seen in the picture, the dim nature of this area makes it difficult for some plant life to grow.
  3. This picture made me think about how hidden this culvert was. If I didn’t wander into the woods, I would’ve never stumbled upon it. This picture reinforces the idea that most of the watershed is out of sight. Just because it’s difficult to spot, it doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. People with limited knowledge about the watershed may not see the importance of this culvert and the area around it.
  4. When I look at this photo, I feel a sense of responsibility to maintain the watershed. Even though this portion is out of sight, it brought to my attention that most of the watershed here is hidden. The watershed’s importance does not diminish because it is difficult to spot.
  5. I think this picture conveys the hidden nature of the watershed. It shows that parts of a watershed may be difficult to find, but we should be aware that our actions can affect the health of the watershed.

Jack Caiaccio Watershed Reflection

  1. In this picture, I see an area where the river disappears under ground. It goes under campus, specifically under the ECV area.
  2. The one thing I noticed in this photo was how dry the area was, because at the time this photo was taken, it had been a while since the last rain. In addition, after I took the photo, I noticed so many more similar things around campus, like right next to Bolton Dining Commons.
  3. This picture makes me realize just how much influence civilization has in the Athens area, specifically on the UGA campus. There are multiple instances where things are built over creeks and rivers, most notably Sanford Stadium which is built over a creek.
  4. When I look at this picture, I feel reassured that mankind is the strongest species on Earth and does things to the environment that are in their best interest rather beneficial to the environment.
  5. I think this picture is about the issues of humanity exerting their dominance on the Earth, which can be very harmful, because it is very important to conserve the planet we live so it can be enjoyed for multiple generations.

Emily Larking Watershed Reflection

  1. In this picture, I see an art instillation near a stream that runs under a bridge. The stream is dry in the picture but it looks like water would be there when it rains. 
  2. It’s interesting that the picture was taken on campus but there’s no sign of school buildings. I didn’t expect to find art in the middle of a watershed.
  3. This picture wouldn’t originally strike me as having an art installation but you can see it when you look closer. I think someone would see the trees and the dry ground and not be able to tell water is meant to flow there.
  4. When I look at this picture, I feel calm because it features a peaceful, natural environment.
  5. I think this picture is about nature being one form of art and the instillation being another.

Chad Hudak – Watershed Reflection

  1. In our Watershed scavenger hunt field trip, my group and I went around the east campus taking photos of different locations that involved water. My group was me, Ted Otto, Zach O’Connor, and Chase Ghannam. I was one of the picture takers in our group and would get out at the locations and take the picture that we needed. I also helped with directions.
  2. I found this field trip to be very interesting because I never knew what half of the items on the scavenger hunt were. Our group also made the mistake of driving instead of walking. This made finding some of the locations much more difficult because we couldn’t leave the car to go take pictures. We had to find a spot to park before we could go do anything.
  3. In this experience I learned that sometimes doing things the hard way (walking) is actually much more beneficial than the easy way (driving). I did use some of my skills that I leaned through Boy Scouts. It was helpful because we had to navigate through the woods for a few minutes to find where the creek merged with the Oconee River.
  4. As a result of my experience, I will most likely take the more difficult path next time because it ends up being a better teacher.

Photo Reflection – Trudi Sundberg

In this picture, I see the art that is within the riparian buffer. It’s a red metal abstract structure. Behind it is a bridge with a small tunnel underneath it, and it front of it is a small, walled-off rocky area. 

In this picture, I noticed how the art looks out-of-place because it’s man-made in an all natural environment, but that it was made so that it almost blends in. 

I think someone would interpret this as man’s interference in the environment, but while we usually think of that as a negative thing, I believe that this picture shows how our influence can be beneficial. 

This image represents a point of pride because I was proud that my University/the city I live in puts art in places, even when nobody might ever see it. It shows that our community cares about the upkeep of our surroundings. 

I think this picture is about the beauty that can be found when humanity makes an effort to make our community and environment better, and when we truly care about it. 

Travis Thurber – Photo Reflection

In this picture, I see some lively green plants resting near a seemingly still body of water. in the center, there is a half exposed tire buried beneath the dirt. The area is mostly shaded but some rays of light make it through the tree leaves above.

What I notice in this picture is the main reason why I took it, which is the tire in the ground. If the tire weren’t there, everything else looks like healthy wildlife.

This picture makes me think about the pollution in our environment. The tire is already half buried in the dirt and has sticks accumulating in the center, which leads me to believe that it has been there for a while. I saw it in the ground, and while fully knowing it shouldn’t be there, I still didn’t do anything about it. This made me think about how many people see this item in particular and other pollutants and don’t do anything about them even though they know the pollutants shouldn’t be there. I also wonder how the tire got there and whether it was intentionally left there or not. I think most people would interpret this at first as just someone leaving a tire in the ground and forgetting about it, but after thinking about it more it goes much deeper than that and relates to all the pollution that people forget about or ignore.

When I look at this picture, I feel demoralized. I don’t feel that way just because I was actually there and didn’t dispose of the tire properly, but I feel demoralized because of how often this type of littering/pollution occurs. Throughout the rest of the scavenger hunt I found a lot of trash that needed to be picked up. That trash could be there so long that it becomes buried just like the tire.

I think this picture is a symbol for human interaction with the environment. This shows what happens to pretty areas of nature when mankind gets involved and doesn’t care about the consequences of their actions. Not everyone has to be a hero, we just need everyone to not be a villain when it comes to pollution and littering.

Chase Ghannam – Photo Reflection

Notice: The shiny metallic objects are tin cans
  1. In this picture, I see the location where Lilly Branch flows into the North Oconee River. Of course, there is some water and some tree branches in the foreground marking what is supposed to be a natural setting.
  2. There are two things that are particularly striking: (1) the lack of water (2) trash. This is a river, so I expected more water to be flowing through it. I also noticed that the cans were situated close to each other (more about that next).
  3. As a result, I would interpret that someone or a group of people had disposed of their cans within a similar time frame and that during the following days the water level was low enough to send the trash towards the North Oconee connection, but there was not enough water to flood the dirt deposit and the cans collected there. I also interpret that the small dirt deposit is a result of Lilly Branch carrying eroded dirt along the stream. When the dirt particulates reach the North Oconee, a perpendicular entry point, a certain amount of dirt having greater inertia cannot successfully turn with river’s direction while maintaining enough velocity to evenly distribute. As the particulates slow they are more susceptible to other forces that go against the direction of the stream. That dirt is then attracted to vortexes (sections of water with a net velocity of zero) which allow the dirt to accumulate. Note that this doesn’t happen to all dirt as water is strong enough to carry most of the dirt along with it with minimal depositing. However, as the water level changes throughout the year, the net effect is an overall accumulation of dirt which is seen clearly in the picture below. Problems could arise if this dirt dam grows.
  4. I feel that many of the answers to our problems are out there. It just takes time and detail-oriented observation to find them.
  5. I think this picture is about the problem of pollution, littering, and poor planning. It shows how interconnected decisions are to seemingly random results (the idea of cause/effect). At least we know where we can find litter for clean-up projects: perpendicular connections.
Note: This is the same as the previous picture; however, it is zoomed out to show the scale of the dirt deposit

Patrick Leonard Watershed Reflection

This picture shows an exit point for water traveling underground under the campus into the stream. On a hot, dry day such as this one, there is little water flowing through it. However, this reminded me of the stream under the bridge near Bolton when it was raining heavily a couple weeks ago. The volume of water passing through at that time must have been hundreds of times greater than what do on a day with no rain. This pipe was smaller than the ones under the bridge near Bolton, which leads me to believe that this area collects less water than the Bolton one, possibly due to the size of the watershed in this area. Seeing that water travels above ground after being underground makes me question the cleanliness of the pipe system, as any contaminants underground would be brought into the stream. I believe that the community should have a better understanding of the pollutants that they could be allowing into streams here on campus.