Cold, Clean, Fishable Water | Our Priorities

It’s all about the water. Cold, clean fishable water provides quality fishing but it goes well beyond recreation. It also provides for healthy communities and strong economies. Protecting, reconnecting, restoring and sustaining the coldwater fisheries that flow through our communities and lives leads to healthy communities and strong economies. Trout exist only in cold, clean fishable water. They are a proverbial “canary in the coal mine”, indicating how well our rivers and streams are being maintained.

Cold Water…

Trout exist only in cool, clear water. Sustained warm temperatures are lethal. Temperature spikes can stress and weaken, even kill fish. Factors that affect stream temperatures include:

·        Storm water runoff from parking lots, rooftops, streets and driveways that have been heated by the sun.

·        Sedimentation from erosion that holds in heat.

·        Thermal discharges from waste water and commercial facilities that can raise a stream’s temperature.

·        Reservoirs that create tailwater fisheries which are dependent upon consistent, minimum cold water discharges.

·        Small ponds on trout streams built without bottom fed cold water discharges.

·        Climate change during periods of drought or unusually warm temperatures.

Clean Water…

Natural water quality can be impaired by chemicals from industrial and residential runoff and discharges, helped by stream buffer areas and needs to be actively protected.

 

Water quality factors:

·        Stormwater management

·        Dissolved oxygen content

·        Acid rain deposition

·        Wastewater and commercial discharge permits

 

Stream buffers provide:

·        Filtering of stormwater runoff

·        Cooling effect through shade

·        Reduction in surface erosion

·        Stream bank stabilization

Protection

·        Permitting

·        Monitoring

·        Emergency response

·        Enforcement

Fishable Water…

Although the "fishable" sounds like it only describes waters clean enough to support fish to catch, it refers more broadly to water quality that is good enough for a healthy balanced population of aquatic life. Fishable water supports agriculture, industry, clean drinking water and recreation. It is an essential part of a strong economy's foundation. Fishable water is dependent on habitat conservation, water quantity and fishery management. Factors that affect fishable water:

 

Habitat conservation

·        Public land acquisition

·        Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

·        Fish passage

·        Riparian rights

·        Off Road Vehicles (ORV)

 

Water quantity

·        Water conservation measures

·        Instream flows

·        Interbasin transfers

·        Water withdrawal permits

 

Fishery management

·        Water management plans

·        Wildlife management plans

·        Land use management plans

·        Public land safeguards

·        Fishing regulations

·        Conservation funding

·        Safety

·        Economic impact

Casting Benefits throughout the Economy…

In Georgia, 1.06 million sportsmen and women - hunters and anglers, spent $2.3 billion supporting 39,640 jobs in 2011. 828,900 anglers spent $1.31 billion supporting 15,644 jobs.

1.06 million people hunted or fished in Georgia in 2011, more than twice the population of the City of Atlanta (1.06 million vs. 420,000 population).

Georgia's resident sportsmen and women could fill every one of the state's professional sports venues (NFL, NBA, MLB and NASCAR) more than three and a half times (981,000 vs. 263,722).

Sportsmen and women spent $2.3 billion on hunting and fishing in Georgia in 2011, twice the revenues for cotton, the second highest grossing agricultural commodity in the state ($2.3 billion vs. $1.18 billion in cotton receipts).

 Hunters and anglers support 39,640 jobs in Georgia - that is more than Fort Benning, the state's largest employer (39,640 vs. 32,000).

Spending by sportsmen and women in Georgia generated $216 million in state and local taxes in 2011, enough to support the average salaries of 5,432 police and sheriff's patrol officers.

The economic ripple effect of sportsmen and women in Georgia is $3.8 billion.

Source: Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation