What's Up 

Be a Part of the Pollution Solution

Anchorage Waterways Council (AWC) is looking for volunteers interested in helping to make a positive difference on the health of our creeks. This requires very little effort, and it can be done anytime while traveling to work or moving around the city.

The Municipality of Anchorage covers about 2,000 square miles and there are few resources dedicated to monitoring and enforcing actions that may cause pollution of our waterways. Some of these activities include erosion control on construction sites, illegal discharges to the stormwater system, and stream buffer violations.

AWC will provide a free one-day training to volunteer Waterway Watchers who are willing to keep their eyes open for issues that impact our creeks. The training will cover some of the regulations most frequently violated, who is responsible for their enforcement, and how to contact the right people to get appropriate action taken. Become an active part of safeguarding our local creeks and learn about being a good watershed steward!

The Saturday, June 13 class is full, but a second class will be given on Saturday, July 18, at Elim Café, 551 W. Dimond Blvd., from 9-4. Lunch is included. Space is limited, so sign up now. For more information contact Cherie Northon Cherie@anchoragecreeks.org  or 907-561-4627

Anchorage Education Association (AEA)

gives AWC their

Friend of Education, 2008-09, Award

On May 13, the AEA honored AWC for its work in the schools with their Friend of Education award.   Scott McKim of Begich Middle School, one of our Adopt-A-Stream program teachers, nominated AWC for the award.  We look forward to working with all our Adopt-A-Stream schools during the upcoming academic year thanks to a generous grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

AEA Nomination:  The Anchorage Waterways Council (affectionately known as AWC), has repeatedly gone above and beyond in offering their numerous resources to teachers at Begich Middle School.  AWC employees continue to graciously give of their time in the classrooms by leading activities and lessons pertinent to local creeks and other environmental issues.   Their knowledge, enthusiasm, and vast resources generate tangible excitement from the students. The students then become steeped in meaningful local knowledge, which in turn advances their personal buy-in with environmental stewardship.  In fact, AWC's impact has been so strongly felt, the students often ask when the "AWC people" are coming back.  AWC has been a tremendous asset both to teachers and students at Begich Middle School!

ANNUAL CREEK CLEAN UP

was a great day!

THANK YOU to all who joined us in cleaning up our creeks. 

AWC Publishes Map and Nature Guide for the Campbell Creek Trail

The map/guide is printed on water and tear-resistant paper--perfect for outdoors.  It is 11" x 17" and folds down to easily fit into a pocket.  Come by our office and pick one up for only $5, or have one shipped to you for $7. Please call 272-7335 or E-Mail Us for more information or to place an order. All proceeds go toward protecting our creeks.

Little Campbell Creek Posters or an AWC Gift Membership--The Perfect Gift!
Give yourself or a friend one of these beautiful posters
and help Little Campbell Creek at the same time.

Help us rehabilitate Little Campbell Creek by purchasing one of our posters. These 11" x 17'' posters show how spectacular an urban creek can look when development is done responsibly. Come by our office and pick one up for only $5, or have one shipped to you for $10. Please call 272-7335 or E-Mail Us for more information or to place an order. All proceeds go toward protecting Little Campbell Creek.

You can also buy a membership or give a donation on behalf of someone. They will receive a postcard from us telling them the donation amount and who it is from. Please give us a call or send us an email if you are interested in giving an AWC membership this holiday season.
 

Protecting Our Creeks

The most basic step in caring for our creeks is something that everyone can do. While you travel throughout our city take notice of the many creeks and look for anything that “doesn’t seem right”. Use your instincts, these can include a creek that normally runs clear and is now running cloudy, a pipe dumping nasty water into a creek, clearing of vegetation right next to the creek, or a development project with muddy water entering the creek. If it looks nasty and not good for fish, then it probably isn’t.

You can let us know about these issues in two ways:

CALL 272-7335  or GO TO the Citizen Reporting Tab on this site and submit a form (can be anonymous)

Check out our "Taking Action on Community Issues" link to see examples of our successes.