Project Blue Streams (PBS) works to enhance the quality
of small streams in Nashville by increasing awareness of
how individuals’ actions impact our streams. We do this
by conducting demonstration restoration projects,
planting trees, installing rain gardens, distributing rain
barrels, and facilitating the adoption of streams. PBS is
currently working in four subwatersheds in Nashville:
Mill Creek, Browns Creek, Richland Creek, and Whites
Creek.
PBS is reaching citizens in Nashville with information
and basic skills to conserve water and improve the quality
of our city’s small streams. This information is in high
demand: We have worked all over Nashville responding
to requests from neighborhood associations, homeowners,
companies, churches, public and private
schools, and local government departments since the
program launched in March of 2007.
One of our most successful programs is our rain barrel
project. In partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and
Coke Bottling, we have created and delivered high quality
barrels at less than half the retail price to Nashvillians.
These barrels capture rain water from roofs, keeping it
from washing into the street and flowing into the nearest
stream. By slowing the water, we give it time to
percolate and replenish the water table, preserving the
base flow of our small streams in the summer. Gardeners
love the rain barrels because the water is free and
healthier for their gardens. Metro Water Services is
pleased because rain barrels reduce demand on aging
infrastructure and the amount of water purified to
drinking standards, conserving a priceless resource. To
date, over 1,200 fifty-five gallon barrels have been
distributed!
Project Blue Streams, in partnership with Team Green,
ThinkMEDIA, and the Army Corps of Engineers staged the
largest clean-up in Nashville’s history at Percy Priest Lake,
one week before the boating season began. The numerous
and naturally beautiful islands of the lake were the
main target. Over the years, they had accumulated
extremely large amounts of trash from campers and
boaters so the partners decided to do something about
it. On one Saturday in May, 400 volunteers came out and
donated 1,800 collective work-hours, filling five roll-off
dumpsters. This project provided another great example
of the Compact’s cooperative ethos in action.
In another initiative, the Whitland Area Neighborhood
Association invited Project Blue Streams to advise them
concerning their neighborhood stream,
Kingfisher/Bosley Springs Creek, because they were
alarmed to learn that the stream was listed on TDEC’s
303(d) list of impaired waters. This small stream is everything
a neighborhood stream should be: a playground for
children to explore, open space for neighborhood gatherings,
a cool place for pets to drink, a walking route for
exercisers, and a quiet urban space to observe nature. In
order to improve the health of this tributary of Richland
Creek, we partnered with the neighborhood association
to help them adopt the stream, enhance its buffer, plant
rain gardens, and provide education and rain barrels to
neighbors. This successful project has been funded in
part by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Know what the major Cumberland River pollutant is? Well, it is the DIRT and
the other "stuff" from our yards, our roofs and our driveways that runs off
every time we have a good rain.
If we all kept our dirt in our own yards, the river would be a lot healthier
and safer for everyone.
Visit the Sediment page to learn more about Muddy Waters and what YOU can do
to keep your dirt at home.
PBS is reaching citizens in Nashville with information
and basic skills to conserve water and improve the quality
of our city’s small streams. This information is in high
demand: We have worked all over Nashville responding
to requests from neighborhood associations, homeowners,
companies, churches, public and private
schools, and local government departments since the
program launched in March of 2007.
Project Blue Streams, in partnership with Team Green,
ThinkMEDIA, and the Army Corps of Engineers staged the
largest clean-up in Nashville’s history at Percy Priest Lake,
one week before the boating season began. The numerous
and naturally beautiful islands of the lake were the
main target. Over the years, they had accumulated
extremely large amounts of trash from campers and
boaters so the partners decided to do something about
it. On one Saturday in May, 400 volunteers came out and
donated 1,800 collective work-hours, filling five roll-off
dumpsters. This project provided another great example
of the Compact’s cooperative ethos in action.
