On October 30, 2010, Decatur County residents will wade into rivers, lakes and streams as part of the continuing statewide campaign to clean and preserve over 70,000 miles of Georgia’s rivers and streams. The effort will be part of Rivers Alive, a joint program of the Environmental Protection Division’s Outreach Education Programs and the Department of Community Affairs’ Keep Georgia Beautiful Program.

The annual Georgia Waterway Cleanup is expected to once again be the largest single volunteer effort to beautify Georgia’s water resources.

According to Suzanne Brandt, Executive Director of Keep Decatur County Beautiful, the number of volunteers for Rivers Alive has grown each year. 325 local volunteers participated in 2009. They removed 5.36 tons of trash from waterways and watershed areas. Another record number of volunteers is expected this year.

Across Georgia during the 2009 river cleanup 26,000 volunteers cleaned over 2,150 miles of waterways and removed over 476 tons of trash and garbage including tires, shingles, balls and washing machines from Georgia’s waterways, according to Harold Harbert, Outreach Coordinator with the Environmental Protections Division. Harbert expects Rivers Alive 2010 to involve thousands more volunteers and to continue to be the State’s and one of the South’s largest volunteer efforts to beautify water resources.

Supporters of the statewide campaign include: Georgia Adopt-A-Stream and Project WET, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, Keep Georgia Beautiful, and Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

To volunteer for the Decatur County cleanup, contact Suzanne Brandt of Keep Decatur County Beautiful, at 229-246-3611 or bdckab@surfsouth.com. Volunteers are also welcomed to show up at 8am on October 30th at the Boat Basin Pavilion near the Chamber of Commerce building. For information about the statewide campaign, go to www.riversalive.org.