About the Partnership

The Cahaba River Basin Clean Water Partnership (Cahaba River Basin CWP) was formed in 1996 and is comprised of stakeholders representing a variety of interest groups within the Cahaba River Basin. One task of the Cahaba River Basin CWP is to identify environmental problems in the Cahaba River Basin and discuss improvement measures to help alleviate these problems. Environmental problems are varied and may be the result of multiple impacts from multiple sources.

Therefore a priority-based approach is typical when addressing environmental problems.

The Cahaba River Basin CWP utilized a technique known as Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) to determine priority rankings of problems and subsequently aid in the development of action strategies to implement environmental improvement measures. CRA is an overall environmental priority-setting process that assesses environmental problems based on consensus among diverse stakeholders. The CRA guides stakeholders in the evaluation and ranking of issues in terms of human health, ecological health, and quality of life. As a result, stakeholders are encouraged to consider effects of environmental impacts from at least three viewpoints. Final determinations incorporate the effects of environmental impacts, the feasibility of improvement measures, and the associated consequences to the local community of both impacts and improvements.

A steering committee comprised of stakeholders representing basin-wide interests, was created within each river basin to facilitate communication and the exchange of information, and to provide vision for the protection and restoration of Alabama's rivers. The basin-wide approach is important to ensure that individual efforts are in accord with one another. For planning purposes, the river basin is further defined into smaller geographical areas based on physiographic and demographic differences by river section.

Goals of the Cahaba River Basin Clean Water Partnership are:

• Improved Water Quality - providing a healthier, more productive water resource for everyone to use and enjoy.
• Broad-based Communication - promoting the sharing of information and the creation of a broad awareness of resource availability through networking with others facing the same challenges.
• Collaboration in Decision-Making - bringing together local interests in identifying funding, prioritizing projects, and implementing watershed management plans.
• Coordination - between community-based groups, municipalities, and industries, preventing the duplication of efforts and allowing the streamlining of limited resources.
• Consolidation of Data and Information - within a communications and technical assistance network so that a more complete account of the river’s water quality is available.