Hartwell Lake Project Named 2013 Government Partner of the Year

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Hartwell Lake Project has been named by Rivers Alive as the 2013 Government Partner of the Year, recognizing the project’s efforts during the annual Hartwell Lake clean-up campaign.

Rivers Alive is an outreach program led by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division that targets the annual cleanup of all waterways located within the state — including streams, rivers, lakes, beaches and wetlands.

The Government Partner of the Year Award recognizes the government entity that holds the most successful clean-up and exemplifies the Rivers Alive mission. During the Hartwell Lake 2013 clean-up campaign, 450 volunteers contributed 3,600 volunteer hours between Aug. 1 and Sept. 28 and successfully removed 9,000 pounds of trash from the banks of Hartwell Lake.

The statewide Rivers Alive effort resulted in a total volunteer force of 27,679 people who cleaned more than 1,800 miles of Georgia waterways and removed over 500,000 pounds of trash and recyclables.

Corps Natural Resources Specialist Nancy Sumners, who spearheaded the Hartwell clean-up campaign, accepted the award on behalf of the Hartwell Project April 15 at the Rivers Alive annual awards ceremony in Atlanta.

“The Hartwell Project has hosted an annual clean-up campaign for more than 30 years, and our efforts could not be a success without support from volunteers in our community,” Sumners said. “Through community partnerships, we come together to conserve and protect the Hartwell resource for future generations.”