Cahaba Riverkeeper
Cahaba Riverkeeper is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Birmingham, Alabama. Cahaba Riverkeeper was founded in 2009 by Myra Crawford, PhD and David Butler to defend the ecological integrity of the Cahaba River and to document the story of the waterbasin as it changes and faces the many sources of pollution that threatens its existence. The Cahaba Riverkeeper's mission is to defend the ecological integrity of the Cahaba River and its watershed, to ensure clean water and a healthy aquatic environment, and to preserve the recreational and aesthetic values of the river basin. Cahaba Riverkeeper also investigates and, if necessary, brings to justice lawbreakers who ignore the Clean Water Act and threaten the rights of citizens to enjoy the precious resources the Cahaba makes available.
The Cahaba River stretches some 190 miles across central Alabama and is the primary source of drinking water for the citizens of the greater Birmingham area. Recognized as the most ecologically diverse river in North America, the Cahaba has a fish population greater than any other temperate river of its size. Many of the fish and mussel species are rare and endangered. As the state’s longest free-flowing river, the Cahaba has a watershed of 1,870 square miles and flows through five counties: Jefferson, Shelby, Bibb, Perry, and Dallas.
Swim Guide
Swim Guide is the Cahaba Riverkeeper’s flagship program since 2014 and serves to answer citizen inquiries about the safety of swimming in the Cahaba River and its major tributaries. Water samples are collected weekly in the summer and analyzed in an on-site laboratory for water quality and bacteria. Findings are posted each week via social and commercial media and the Swim Guide app to educate the public so they may make informed decisions about their health as they go out to swim, boat, and fish.
People usually expose themselves to contaminated water and potential harm because they do not have access to reliable water quality data, or they may not understand the information that has been provided to them. Many contaminated-water-related illnesses are never reported, and it is believed that hundreds of thousands of North Americans get sick or face physical discomfort each year after swimming in polluted water. Media coverage by area television stations, numerous magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and public comments signifies that Swim Guide is serving an important community need.
River Cleanups
Cahaba Riverkeeper spends most of its time working on the programs it has underway. Being on constant patrol in the watershed allows the Riverkeeper to locate additional insults to the river’s integrity, including bank collapses, sanitary sewer overflows, and other pollution events called in by caring citizens.
BASS Program
Cahaba Riverkeeper began its Bank Assessment of Stability and Sediment (BASS) program in 2018 using sonar and video technology to chronicle the state of the river and its major tributaries. The BASS program will be the first ever longitudinal survey of the Cahaba channel. The process provides high resolution, geo-referenced longitudinal data critical for stream channel assessments, water quality studies, habitat assessments, and community outreach.
DNA Fish Study
The Cahaba River is reported in the general literature to have more than 130 species of fish, but a current record of what remains does not exist. More recent studies of the watershed have documented the decline in pollution-intolerant fish species and an increase in pollution-tolerant fish species. Endangered species such as the gold-line darter and the Cahaba shiner have been especially adversely affected.
After extreme droughts, an excess of stormwater runoff, and bank collapses covering habitat with sediment over the twenty years since the EPA study was conducted, what species are still present? The quest to determine how many and which species are still present needed to be undertaken. The University of West Alabama (UWA) had developed an environmental DNA (eDNA) research protocol but lacked a consistent source of samples from a large part of the river and its tributaries.
In 2019, Cahaba Riverkeeper began the eDNA fish species study of the Cahaba and its major tributaries in collaboration with UWA, collecting more than 350 water samples each year for eDNA testing. The UWA team analyzes the water collected to determine which species of fish have deposited their DNA in the water.
Study of Microplastics
Cahaba Riverkeeper began its microplastics study in 2019 led by Shaun Crawford, PhD, MSPH, Cahaba Riverkeeper’s senior scientist. The pilot study was launched to determine if microplastic pollution was evident in the Cahaba. The results indicated that there was, indeed, substantial microplastic pollution in the Cahaba. In 2020, a collaboration was begun with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to verify the findings and to provide more detailed study of the microplastics found. Josh Forakis, a post-doctoral student in the department who is conducting those studies, also brings dozens of UAB chemistry students to the river each year to take samples for their class projects, using the Cahaba Riverkeeper laboratory and office for support.
External Links
- Cahaba Riverkeeper website
- Cahaba Swim Guide website