Athens BH: Local govt promoting water conservation

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ENVIRONMENT

Athens educates residents to cut water waste, protect rivers

Steven Durocher

Grady Newsource

July 7, 2026, 4:01 a.m. ET

 

Clean water is essential for any community to thrive. From the necessity of having clean drinking water to fostering a healthy ecosystem, water conservation is not a practice that should fly under the radar, especially in a large, diverse community such as Athens-Clarke County.

The average American home uses about 260 gallons of water a day. During the warmer months, this number can range anywhere from 1,000-3,000 gallons of water everyday.

The Middle and North Oconee Rivers in Athens are both rivers where millions of gallons of water that flow through are treated each day at reclamation facilities, cleansing water at a high standard, making it safe for reuse in irrigation, industrial processes or for return to waterways. Each river is a vital water source to the community and its cleanliness greatly impacts many industries in Athens. 

 

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Without the proper initiatives to educate the public, it can be difficult for residents to fully grasp the magnitude of good water conservation practices. City officials have taken charge to ensure each community member can be knowledgeable and also take action when it comes to protecting water resources.

 

“Here in Athens, we host a River’s Alive water cleanup where we get members of the community, almost 200 every year, to come and visit different sites around Athens to different creeks, rivers and watersheds,” said Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation Program Education Specialist Katie Kirkland. “We do tours of our drinking water facility and of our water reclamation facilities, and we try to drive home that we are using our resources and wanting to protect our resources at the same time. So getting people familiar with our water sources is very important to get people to care about them.”

Steven Durocher is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Georgia. This reporting originally appeared on Grady Newsource (gradynewsource.com), the news organization covering northeast Georgia staffed by journalism majors at the University of Georgia.