The Upper Cumberland Water Watch (UCWW) was formed 
in 1999 as a non-profit organization. UCWW is an entirely volunteer organization that performs lab tests on streams in the Upper Cumberland watershed. Its members are people that live in or near the watershed and are concerned about the quality of water. It is said that if you want to measure the health of the land, judge the health of the streams. As streams pass over the landscape, it takes on the characteristics of its environment. By testing the water, we can monitor the health of the surrounding land.
Our mission is to raise awareness of water quality issues in the drainage basin. The way we fulfill that mission is to organize and run water quality sampling events 3 times each year. The samples are taken at approximately 100 stream location. Each sample is tested using 20-30 sampling parameters. With as large a watershed as UCWW monitors, volunteers are always needed. If you are concerned about water quality, contact UCWW or Volunteer. The data collected since 1999 is instrumental in determining baseline data and highlighting problem areas.
The Cumberland River watershed covers more than 18,000 square miles thru portions of southeast Kentucky, north central Tennessee and western Kentucky. The mainstem of the river begins near Harlan, Kentucky and stretches for 697 miles before spilling into the Ohio River near Smithland, Kentucky. Along this route it impounded 5 times to form Lake Cumberland, Cordell Hull Lake, Old Hickory Lake, Cheatham Lake and Lake Barkley.
The Upper Cumberland River watershed is the portion of this watershed located primarily in southeast Kentucky. About 300 miles of the mainstem of the Cumberland River drain the watershed including about 110 miles of Lake Cumberland. That is just the 'backbone' of the watershed. There are more than 10,000 miles miles of streams and creeks. Some of the major streams that feed into the Cumberland River or Lake Cumberland include: Big South Fork, Rockcastle, Buck Creek, Clear Fork, Laurel River and many more. Each of these streams are fed by countless creeks.
In all, there are xxx miles of the Cumberland River and 110 miles of Lake Cumberland. That is just the 'backbone' of the watershed. There are 1000s of additional miles of streams and creeks. Some of the major streams that feed into the Cumberland River or Lake Cumberland include: Big South Fork, Rockcastle, Buck Creek and many more. Each of these streams are fed by countless creeks.
Household, human, animal and industrial waste, mining, poor agriculture and logging practices are just a few of the activities that threaten water quality. The tests performed by UCWW are selected to discover the impacts of these threats.
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UCWW c/o Loris Sherman 808 Monticello Street Somerset, KY 42501 1-606-679-8501, ext. 3248 fax -1-606-676-9065 info@uppercumberlandriver.org webmaster@uppercumberlandriver.org www.uppercumberlandriver.org |