Water Pollution In Athens: How Substantial Is The Problem?

The Oconee River is one of Georgia’s most significant, running for 221 miles and providing multiple counties with recreational activity and drinking water, but substantial problems loom beneath the surface. Unlike statewide waterways such as the Chattahoochee and Ogeechee, it is visibly clear to a casual observer that the water quality in the Oconee especially around Athens is subpar due to a number of polluting factors. So what can our community do to stop it? 

While many pollutants affecting the water quality of the Oconee could easily go unnoticed in the everyday life of Athenians, trash is certainly not one. Stephanie Green, Ecological Resource Coordinator at the Athens Clarke County Department of Sustainability spoke about their department’s involvement in river cleanup saying, 

“So the trash traps that we call trash bandits, there’s actually three deployed across Athens Clarke County right now. One of those is completely owned and operated by UGA on Tanyard Creek and the other two are at Trail Creek so we work with UGA’s sustainability office, they actually maintain that trash trap and students help clean it.”

“Trash Traps” placed in Tanyard Creek in Athens, Georgia. Jan 22, 2025. (Photo/Gray Barbee)

These efforts have proven to be effective, but trash pollution remains a significant problem for the Oconee and its tributaries. Athens Clarke County Sustainability Director Mike Wharton spoke about the issue saying, 

“What’s interesting is they are probably within 1000 yards of each other or less, and so it’s in the things that people don’t think about. You see it sometimes on the top of your stormwater inlets, if your recycling blows over or you overfill it, and if stuff falls onto the roadway, or the company drops it into the back of the truck and three or four things fall out, and you compound that over a street or multiple streets, now you have a lot of the garbage is going straight into your water. I want to say in about two or three years we’ve taken out over 2500 pounds of trash in that stream between the two.” 

Rivers Alive is a statewide initiative managed locally by non-profit organization Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful which, “empowers citizens and businesses with the resources to take action as environmental stewards of litter prevention, waste reduction, and beautification. Through partnership with the Athens Clarke County Government Rivers Alive accounted for 4,159 pounds of trash collected from rivers and streams in 2024. Jackie Sherry who serves on Rivers Alive as well as working as Water Conservation Coordinator for the Athens Clarke County Public Utilities department said, 

“Here in Athens what we typically do is have a committee full of Athens Clarke County departments, we have some folks from UGA, we have some nonprofits involved from the Upper Oconee Watershed Network and all of us collectively plan this one day event where we have selected sites around the county, along our rivers, along our creeks and streams, even roadways, and we identify these different sites and have volunteers go out and either do litter cleanup or do water quality testing, storm drain decaling, just various projects all with the focus of protecting that water quality.” 

Another significant factor in the Oconee is sediment pollution. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency sediment primarily harms wildlife by clogging fish gills and reducing water clarity which can significantly impact their ability to feed and reproduce. Sherry agrees that this is a primary concern saying, 

“We did some stream walks last week as part of the watershed protection plan, and we were talking with some of the folks helping us and they said some of our creeks and rivers used to be full of a lot of gravel and rocks but now it is a lot of sand and sediment, and that’s just from runoff.”

Runoff can be a pollutant in multiple ways, typically through picking up fertilizers, pesticides or oil, but the biggest runoff issue in Athens may actually be dog feces according to Katie Kenerly who also serves on Rivers Alive on top of working as the Program Education Specialist with Stormwater Management. Kenerly said, 

“We just have so many dogs in Athens, and a lot of people aren’t picking up after them. And so even if its in a park and it’s off the trail when it rains, its still going to wash into the waterways. There’s like 23 million bacteria in a single gram of dog poop which compared to livestock and even human waste, its astronomically higher.”

Despite efforts to give out dog bags, Kenerly concluded that the most effective way to prevent fecal pollution from dogs is simply to raise awareness. Kenerly added, 

“We have a plan to hit some of these apartments downtown with just a letter and a little pet waste bag gift, but we found that a lot of the time education is the most effective. People just don’t know, because they see poop is poop like oh its fertilizer, but it’s really high in phosphorous and nitrogen and things that actually kill plants and wildlife.” 

If you’d like to get involved in local river cleanup visit riversalive.georgia.gov

 

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Bigger Vision of Athens Supports Local Homeless Population 

Homelessness in Athens is a growing issue, but shelters like Bigger Vision of Athens are doing everything they can to combat this concern. They have served the Athens community since 1998 and opened their permanent shelter on North Avenue in 2012. 

Bigger Vision offers daily meals and a bed to sleep in each night. They are currently able to bed 36 people which amounts to roughly 10% of the total homeless population in Athens-Clarke County. 

Interim Executive Director Debra Hess hopes to find funding to expand the shelter in the near future to accommodate homeless individuals with higher needs. 

“One of the things I would really like for Athens, Clark County, is to get a facility for people who cannot take care of themselves and are homeless,” said Hess. 

$34 million Classic Center Arena expansion plans to bring a variety of entertainment to Downtown Athens

Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz speaks on the plans for the new Classic Center Arena. Girtz was elected mayor of Athens in 2018.

(Photo/Gray Barbee)

On Friday Morning, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz held a conference regarding the ongoing construction of the new Classic Center Arena in the Fine Arts building on UGA’s North Campus. The $34 million project will increase the arena’s maximum capacity to 8,500 people. 

“We first created a pretty large addition about 10 years ago… And that’s allowed for gatherings of 3,500 or 4,000 people. But the Classic Center Authority working with the commission and myself realized we may need to take it to the next level,” said Girtz.  

The arena’s location will provide many new benefits to downtown Athens businesses as it projects to draw 50 million dollars of annual economic impact to the city. The arena will also offer an array of community benefits as it will create more than 600 jobs. The project will bring a plethora of new entertainment to Athens as the expansion will accommodate everything from family-friendly shows such as “Disney on Ice” to UGA’s Ice Dawgs, as well as a professional hockey team that has not been named yet. 

The UGA Ice Dawgs were established in 1987 and play their home games in the Classic Center. The Classic Center’s expansion project plans to accommodate both the Ice Dawgs and the unnamed professional team by featuring a main arena and another hall with hosting capabilities. 

“I think the Ice Dawgs may sometimes spend their time in the arena and may sometimes spend their time in the hall. So we’ve got the opportunity to move between the two. But I have every confidence that we can manage that question,” said Girtz

The expansion project won’t just stand to benefit attendees in the crowd. The Classic Center Arena plans to serve as a full-time practice facility for the Ice Dawgs.

“The most thing I’m excited for is not having to drive to Duluth every week for practice,” said Ice Dawgs Senior Forward Josh Mesaros. “Most teams have to go off campus to play but it being downtown is gonna be so nice and so convenient.”

The new Classic Center Arena is currently slated to open Aug 1, 2024 but another delay is possible. 

“Let me say (I’m) reasonably confident. Reality is in any large construction project there are ripples and hiccups. And so if it is not Aug 1, I expect it to be shortly thereafter,” said Girtz. 

https://twitter.com/barbeegray02/status/1730596410557399324

Why I Wrote the Story:

I wrote this story for my reporting I class in UGA’s Journalism program. I covered local business this semester for the class and our final project was to cover a news conference with Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz. I learned that there is much ongoing action behind the scenes of local businesses and government that can be more exciting to cover than I initially thought.

Beat Q&A with The Wuxtry’s Nate Mitchell

Nate Mitchell holding an early REM EP. “Radio Free Europe.” REM’s two founding members met at The Wuxtry.

(Photo/Gray Barbee)

Nathaniel Mitchell is the store manager at Wuxtry Records, serving the Athens community for over 13 years.  

Q: “How long have you lived in Athens?”

A: “Over 15 years, since early 2006.”

Q: “So what’s your job at the Wuxtry?”

A: “Store Manager.”

Q: “How familiar were you with the Wuxtry’s impact on the Athens music scene before you started working here?

A: “I guess I knew about REM starting in Athens. It wasn’t until I first visited the town in 1999 and stopped in here and bought some music, I think it was probably around that time I was explained the history of the store. It was kind of responsible for the beginning of REM.”

Q: “What would you say to entice people who consider themselves big music fans but don’t collect records or don’t see the value in it into giving it a try?

A: “Well, you might remember just a few months ago a lot of people were protesting Spotify carrying the Joe Rogan podcast. Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, these are pretty major artists and they just pulled their whole catalog off Spotify. I mean, that’s like the main streaming service most people subscribe to. I tell people, owning a physical copy of the album It’s your copy, they won’t be able to change those songs once they’re released. I mean, it might get another pressing, there’s definitely albums that had songs taken off of them or changed artwork. So yeah, I feel like invest in stuff that you like.”

Q: “What do people need to know about upcoming events at the Wuxtry and around Athens?

A: “I guess the big one, I almost feel like this has spiraled a bit out of control as far as how popular it ended up being but I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the 60s TV show and TV band, the Monkees. Just in the past week or so it was an unexpected announcement that Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of the original four piece, had recorded a four song EP that was him covering REM songs. They were asking if it was alright if they used a photo of the storefront with the album cover; I said fine, no problem. I kind of jokingly asked, ‘any chance that Mickey might be able to do an in-store appearance for his record signing?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, I don’t know, I have to check with his manager.’ And I got a call from the manager and it was possible. And then after that, I got a call from Micky Dolenz. They are thrilled to come here. At this point, we’ve had over 300 people call in and preorder the album coming in from all over the place.”

 

Why I Wrote the Story:

I’ve been an avid record collector for five years now, the Wuxtry is the business that I frequent the most often downtown. I learned that you have to be on your toes at all times during an interview whether its because you have to be ready to ask follow up questions or troubleshoot with your recording or any number of other problems.