Signs springing up alongside area interstates and state highways now tell motorists when they enter the watersheds of local rivers.
The signs are being placed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to remind drivers not to trash places where other people live, TDOT spokeswoman Julie Oaks said.
“The purpose of these signs is to increase public awareness regarding the importance of watersheds,” Ms. Oaks said. “And to encourage good stewardship of the state’s valuable rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes and groundwater.”
Fourteen markers will be placed on roads in Bradley, Marion, McMinn, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie counties, state records show. The watershed signs highlight Caney Fork and the Hiwassee, Ocoee, Sequatchie and lower Tennessee rivers, along with Guntersville and Watts Bar lakes, records show.
The state plans to erect 187 watershed markers statewide at a cost of $313,300, Ms. Oaks said.
The state transportation department is splitting the cost with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, she said.
TDEC spokeswoman Tisha Calabrese-Benton agreed the signs might help ease littering.
“”Citizens can really make a difference in water quality by being aware that what they put in their yards, what they throw from their cars and what washes across parking lots into storm drains ultimately affects the waters they use,” she said.
Trip Pollard, director of transportation for the Southern Environmental Law Center and a member of the Tennessee Environmental Advisory Commission, said state officials talked last year with environmentalists about the signs. The environmentalists agreed it was a good idea, he said.
He said Virginia state officials adopted the same type of signage for their state highways and interstates a few years ago.
Mr. Pollard said he thinks some motorists might think twice before littering after seeing the signs.
“This kind of thing is difficult to prove (whether) it works,” he said. “But in times of increasing drought and concerns of water quality, I think it is a good idea.”
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
