Regional Water Quality Planning

In FY 1999, GNRC was awarded a grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to develop a model approach for assisting and enhancing TDEC’s watershed management program by increasing public awareness and active involvement at the local level. By focusing on the Harpeth River watershed, tools and models were developed that will be supplied to other watersheds throughout the state. To organize and manage this effort, GNRC subcontracted with the Cumberland River Compact, an organization whose mission is to "enhance the water quality of the Cumberland River and its watersheds through education and by promoting cooperation among citizens, business and agencies in Kentucky and Tennessee."

In FY 2001 this process was initiated in the Red River Watershed where a number of stakeholders, interested citizens and others met to learn more about the watershed and the issues impacting water quality. The participants identified major factors facing the watershed both now and in the future and created a Watershed Association to continue to monitor and improve water quality in the watershed.

In FY 2002 the watershed program was initiated in the area drained by the main stem of the Cumberland River from Old Hickory Dam to Cheatham Dam. This area, called the Mid-Cumberland Watershed, is the most developed of all the Cumberland Basin watersheds and has required additional organizational and promotional efforts on the part of GNRC and the Cumberland River Compact.