The Boone Watershed Partnership held its 23rd annual Watershed Aquatic Stewardship Awards and Ice Cream Social for the local community last Saturday. The event honored the contributions of local people who work to protect and improve water quality in the Boone Watershed.
Prosim was presented with the Industry/Business Aquatic Stewardship Award for in-kind donation of engineer time to certify architectural drawings of a pavilion for the Outdoor Classroom with a Living Roof in Jacob’s Nature Park at Sinking Creek. This in-kind match of at least $2,000 enabled BWP to obtain a $25,000 grant contract from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in 2018 to be used toward the construction costs.
The Grandview Christian Church 456 Crew – led by Jeff and Angie Keeling – took home the K-12 Aquatic Stewardship Award. Jeff is a longtime volunteer at Jacob’s Nature Park. Recently, Jeff and his wife Angie recruited an enthusiastic group of fourth- through sixth-graders from Grandview Christian Church to identify and label trees and plants along the trails in the park.
Finally, Shannon O’Quinn of the Tennessee Valley Authority received the Local Government Aquatic Stewardship Award.
Shannon has been with TVA for 19 years, working to improve and protect water quality and species diversity in the Tennessee Valley. He accomplishes this by collaborating with community groups and natural resources agencies to assess water condition, develop plans for improvement, leverage funding, and implement quality enhancement projects. His efforts benefit local communities by improving drinking water supplies, aquatic habitat, recreation, human health, and economic development.
The Boone Watershed Partnership’s mission is to partner with local users, regional, state and federal entities, educators, and others to identify and address water resource issues in the Boone Watershed. In fulfilling this mission, we recognize significant contributions that individuals or groups have made to water quality in the Boone Watershed.
