Staying Safe on the Water
Memorial Weekend is traditionally the first big weekend of the summer for many boaters. As you prepare yourself and your vessel for that fun day on the water don’t neglect water safety for you and for your guests.
Water safety is all about knowing your risks and taking appropriate actions. One of the easiest ways you can protect yourself is by wearing a personal flotation device when you take to the water to boat or paddle.
Here in the Tennessee River Valley, our waterways have seasonal fluctuations and varying levels of boat traffic. Each year, there are drownings that may have been preventable if the boater or paddler had been wearing a life jacket.
May 22 to May 28 is National Boating Safety Week. Safety begins with risk assessment. If you are planning to paddle a river or new waterway that you have not paddled before, know before you go. Are there hazards such as low head dams or strong current conditions to be aware of? For boaters, make sure you check for hazards that might be submerged and always adhere to boating rules for passing another boater. Stay alert to other boat traffic around you.
Finally, be the “designated driver” to make sure everyone makes it back to land safely. When the boat is in motion, ask your guests to wear their life jackets. Paddlers, be the expert for what to anticipate on your paddling adventure.
Stay safe and enjoy your day on the water.
Earth Day 2021- A Model CSA in Huntsville, AL
Earth Day is a day to raise the environmental consciousness of the nation. Traditional service activities include litter pick-ups, tree plantings, and recycling days. In Huntsville, Al, recycling can now get to a granular level. You can get involved with recycling your food scraps with Duncan Farms, a small family-owned farm with a philosophy of “taking food waste and turning it into beautiful clean food while preserving our environment and lessening our impact.”
Donavan Duncan shares their newest project with us:
Food scraps account for nearly 30% of the waste put out by most homes. Currently, this goes into landfills and causes issues ranging from increasing global warming, to poisoned groundwater.
Each week we’ll come to pick up the lining from your bucket, our fully compostable plastic bag, we’ll also swap your bucket out if needed, and give it a quick clean. You’ll earn credit each week that you’re part of our program, and can redeem that credit on our farm store – essentially turning your waste into farm-fresh food – all while helping save the world!
We’re proud to take your scraps and turn those scraps into fresh food that you can claim on our farm store. Each month you’re part of our program, you’ll receive a credit (rewarding you for your food scraps!) that’s redeemable at our farm shop.
The Power of Water
Water is power. It is needed to sustain life, but its power can be managed or left to destroy.
In the Tennessee Valley, dams were built to harness the power of the river and to control flooding in river communities. At the turn of the 20th century, life along the river brought a pattern of seasonal flooding and then shallow stagnant water resulting in economic and human suffering.
In 1933, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was tasked to manage the power of the waterways. This included building power generating dams, controlling the waterways on the Tennessee River to allow for navigation, easing seasonal flooding, and providing recreation for people living in the Valley.
The headlines from March 29, 2021, had several stories about the power of water. Heavy rains and high winds over the weekend brought flooding to streams and creeks across the Valley. Roads and bridges were damaged and some homes were flooded in low lying areas. Compare this to March 1867, prior to the system of locks and dams, when heavy rains brought flooding to Chattanooga. The entire city was underwater and there was a great loss of businesses and human life. The economic impact was measurable.
Also topping the headlines was the blockage of the Suez Canal by a stuck freighter and the resultant economic impact of this event on the shipping industry and consumer pricing. On a smaller scale, the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee Canal provide a shipping channel for goods and services. Managing the barge traffic and water flow is simply another role that the TVA is charged with.
Water has power. Water has shaped the communities, people’s lives, and economies of the Tennessee Valley. When you drive past or boat near one of the 49 dams in the Valley, appreciate the structures as monuments to human innovation and the services that each provides in building the community and economic development across the region.
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