Join the Rotary Club of South DeKalb on Zoom on Wednesday, August 12 to hear  Rotary Club of South DeKalb environmentalist Dr. Jacqueline Echols talk about the difficulty of solving problems related to the lack of access to clean water. The Rotary Foundation includes water and sanitation as a key focus area. You must be registered to receive the private zoom link. Click here to register: https://events.eventzilla.net/e/rotary-club-of-south-dekalb--2138794966

Jacqueline Echols is a tireless advocate for Georgia’s watersheds and works for their protection through both policy change and community engagement. She has served as Board President of the South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) since 2010. As Board President, she has worked to ensure federal and state regulators enforce DeKalb County's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) sewer overflow permit, help to secure Georgia Department of Natural Resources grant support for the South River Water Trail, and hosted countless river cleanups; kayaking; and other stewardship and conservation events for the local community.

Jackie Echols’ work on behalf of the citizens of this state, most particularly those living in DeKalb County and along the South River has been tireless. For example, DeKalb County sanitary sewer spills have huge negative impacts on the county’s streams and rivers. They also cost ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in federal and state fines and environmental cleanup costs. Jackie has been more than an advocate for the South River. She is a keen strategist who fights to ensure that federal Clean Water Act requirements are enforced.

Under Dr. Echols’ leadership, the SRWA became the sole intervener in the consent decree between the United States Environmental Protection Agency and DeKalb County. The projects and work of SRWA are intended to restore and protect the South River for wildlife to thrive and people to enjoy. Restoration is the return of a degraded ecosystem to a close approximation of its remaining natural potential (U.S. EPA). According to Dr. Echols, urban areas are where most people live and where waterways like the South River are most threatened. Restoration of the South River depends on actively engaging individuals and communities through projects that raise awareness, educate, and connect people to the river.