2020 Spring Equinox Newsletter
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Volunteer Frank Eaton helping to keep our rivers clean and healthy
Keeping Rivers in the Time of Coronavirus
Winyah Rivers Alliance, its staff and volunteers, are following the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and the recommendations of our state and local agencies responsible for protecting the public health during the declared pandemic. Much of our work can be accomplished remotely and independently, including field work and water quality monitoring by our staff. Many of our meetings have been cancelled or postponed. Other meetings will be held by conference call or virtually. We are making every effort to socially distance ourselves to prevent the spread of coronavirus. We encourage our volunteers and our entire community to take recommended precautions.
How You Can Help
Social distancing is impacting our 50 Days of Cleanups (March 3 – April 21) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22). We’ll update information about the scheduled cleanups so check our Public Calendar here>> But, if you feel so inclined, we encourage you to do a cleanup on your own or with a small group (<10 people & maintain distance per the recommendations).
You can still enter… 14th Annual Winyah Rivers Alliance Photography Contest We’re extending the deadline through April, at least! All this social distancing is giving us time to get outside and capture some great images!
Be a Conservation Champion!
You can be a conservation champion by supporting local nonprofits, including Winyah Rivers Alliance, on Palmetto Giving Day, a 24 hour online giving event. Bookmark this page and come back anytime on Tuesday, May 5th to support your local nonprofit.
Your support helps keep our rivers fishable, swimmable & drinkable…
Volunteer Water Monitors…twice monthly, volunteers from Lake Waccamaw all the way to Winyah Bay check water quality
Cleanup Volunteers …spring & fall (& often in between), locals pick up trash at their adopted landing & other river sites
Youth Stewards… our Carolina Blue Stewards are learning how to become better stewards of our water resources
Cara Schildtknecht Waccamaw Riverkeeper Flooding along our rivers has become a constant topic in the coastal Carolinas. Of the top ten river crests on the Waccamaw recorded at Conway, five have been in the past five years; 2 during Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, a new record during Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and 2 more historic crests during Hurricane Florence in 2018 (per NWS). With significant rain events such as these, our rivers’ floodplains will naturally experience flooding. But now our rivers cannot even handle normal rain storms.
Jeff Currie Lumber Riverkeeper In February, the Lumber Riverkeeper was featured in the Online article “A Stench in the Nostrils of God“. The reporter and Jeff met in Tar Heel, where the Lumber River watershed and the Cape Fear River watershed meet. Tar Heel is home to the Smithfield pork processing plant, the world’s largest. The two spoke about the smell and our involvement in a challenge of state laws imposing new restrictions on the ability of citizens to bring lawsuits against companies such as Smithfield.
Christine Ellis
Executive Director We work in partnership to protect our entire watershed. We advocate to prevent impacts from mining on the Black and Lynches Rivers, we investigate water quality issues on the Pee Dee River, we work to protect riverine properties in all watersheds, and we fight back against regulatory rollbacks, including upholding the provisions of the Clean Water Act to protect fishable, swimmable, drinkable water. We’ll celebrate 20 years in 2021. And we’re planning a party…January 30, 2020 – Save the Date!
Board Spotlight – Becky Goins We are pleased to welcome Becky Goins on our Board of Directors. Ms. Goins lives in Pembroke, NC in the beautiful Lumber River watershed. Becky has spent the majority of her life creating connections within American Indian tribes and organizations across North Carolina and the southeastern United States. We welcome Becky to our nonprofit and its mission!
Did you know…
Winyah Rivers Alliance watches over 11,700 square miles, the Lower Pee Dee basin, that we call the greater Winyah Bay watershed, an area the size of Maryland & Delaware combined! We’re in your watershed…reach out to us.
Our Contact Information
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