Author Sally Bethea talks about defending our waterways in “Keeping the Chattahoochee”

When you are floating downriver in a kayak, tubing with the kids on a lake, or fishing in coastal waters, it’s easy to take for granted how clean the water and surrounding environment is. Sure, Georgia’s waterways are not always perfectly pristine, but without the hard work of perseverant individuals, the quality of our water could be much, much worse.

One such diligent individual is Sally Bethea, author of “Keeping the Chattahoochee,” who will be discussing and signing her remarkable book at The Learning Center on Oct. 11.

Bethea is one the of the first women in America to become a “riverkeeper,” a vocal defender of a specific body of water. There are currently eight riverkeepers in Georgia including keepers for the Ogeechee and Savannah rivers.

The Waterkeeper Alliance is an organization based in New York that formed in the 1990s and helps support new groups who want to protect particular bodies of water. These protectors carry the trademark “keeper.” There are riverkeepers, lakekeepers, soundkeepers, and even baykeepers.

“It’s a family of names to help understand that when you come across one of these waterkeepers, you know that group will have a boat that patrols a particular water body, will monitor a water body, have an individual called the ‘keeper’, and that the waterkeepers will do whatever is necessary legal to protect water bodies, which includes a more aggressive legal program than many other river conservation groups might employ,” explained Bethea.

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'Once you're a riverkeeper, you kinda don't stop'

Bethea became the Chattahoochee riverkeeper in 1994 with the help of Ted Turner’s foundation, and for 30 years she fought the City of Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the federal government, to restore the quality of her designated waterway. Bethea was one of the first dozen waterkeepers ever, and since then there are now over 300 waterkeepers across the globe in 45 countries.

When Bethea founded Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, she was the sole employee with a $50,000 grant from Ted Turner. Today the organization has a $2 million-a-year budget, three offices, dozens of boats, two floating classrooms, and quite a robust program. Bethea has since retired, but she continues as a senior advisor for the organization.

“Once you’re a riverkeeper, you kinda don’t stop,” said Bethea.

Bethea’s biggest fight was with Atlanta, whose sewage had been running into the Chattahoochee River and was a chronic source of pollution for years.

“The state environmental agencies had done virtually nothing about it, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had done virtually nothing, so we did our due diligence, found the violations, confirmed the evidence, and we tried to communicate with the city, state agencies, the feds, and they totally ignored us,” said Bethea.

The year before the Olympics, in October 1995, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit in federal court along with cities and counties and property owners who were downstream from Atlanta.

“We took that case before a judge and the outcome was the city was forced to spend 2 billion dollars to fix it’s sewer system, which hadn’t been maintained for decades,” said Bethea. “Routinely, there were horrible sewage spills and overflows to the point where a hook and ladder truck fell into a sinkhole of a stormwater and sewage pipe. The river was septic below Atlanta. It was bad for the environment and the economy.”

Today, Atlanta is finishing up the decades-long project of revamping their sewage system, and as a result the Chattahoochee is 80% cleaner. Property values have increased, and recreation has returned to the river after the state previously refused to put boat ramps in because the water quality was so bad.

“None of this would have happened if our little organization had not been able to use the Federal Clean Water act, which says if the government fails to do it’s job, which the feds and state had done, then a citizens group can go into federal court, present evidence, and try to get a solution to the problem.”

Bethea’s “Keeping the Chattahoochee” is a memoir about her time as riverkeeper, and the people who helped or hindered her work, but it’s also naturalist book on meditation.

“It’s really a dual narrative,” explained Bethea.

Every chapter begins with a walk Bethea took along the river during the pandemic. She was inspired to find a natural place she loved, visit it every day for a year, and “unlearn hurrying.”

“Be attentive and finds out how astonishing nature truly is,” advised Bethea. “I thought I already knew—I’ve been an environmentalist most of my life. Every time I would walk, a memory would come up from my riverkeeping years.”

During her walks, Bethea also found herself building a kinship with the other species that populated the area. For example, on one walk she witnessed an otter joyfully playing in the river.

“I was just enthralled,” recalled Beteha. “I was peeking in on her joy and happiness, and all I could think of was that the river has belonged to her and her family and the fish for thousands of years. We humans are Johnny come latelys.”

In retirement, Bethea has learned how to “take time,” but she wishes she had had this epiphany earlier in her career.

“I didn’t give myself permission to really take the time and go slowly,” said Bethea. “I wish that I had because I think it could have further informed my work. I urge my friends to really take extra time to make that physical, mental, and spiritual connection with nature.”

Tickets for the Learning Center event are $10 and are available for pre-purchase or at the door. Books are available for sale & signing at the event. For pre-orders, contact The Book LadyBookstore at 912-233-3628. All book proceeds go to support the work of Ogeechee Riverkeeper.

Bethea said, “My hope is that the book guides and inspires young people, people of all ages really, to help safeguard the natural resources that are so critical to our communities, to our personal physical and mental wellbeing, and how I, and the organization we created, over twenty years went about that.”

If You Go >>

What: Keeping the Chattahoochee: Reviving and Defending a Great Southern River with Sally Bethea

When: 5-6 p.m., Oct. 11

Where: The Learning Center, 3025 Bull St.

Cost: $10

Info: thebookladybookstore.com/events

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Author Sally Bethea defends our waterways in “Keeping the Chattahoochee”