RWCA works to promote
environmental sustainability
for the Richland Creek watershed and its community.

Mission and Philosophy: Developing collaborative relationships to provide educational and volunteer programs and accomplish community outreach

What is RCWA?

• Richland Creek Watershed Alliance (RCWA) is an organization created to promote environmental sustainability within the community and its watershed.
• RCWA is aimed at reconnecting local stakeholders to the significance of their watershed, and the impacts that affect its viability.
• RCWA intends to establish cooperative, practical and effective programs which all stakeholders can participate.
• RCWA will seek a collaborative array of partnerships with other organizations within the watershed.
• The alliance refers to stakeholders within the Richland Creek Watershed, whose consensus generates effective advocacy and programs, aimed at protecting and improving the water quality and ecology of their watershed.

Milestones 2007

• On February 12, 2007 the RCWA PowerPoint presentation was given to the Sylvan Park Neighborhood Association.
• Over the following weeks and months neighbors and other entities became interested in RCWA and submitted either their pledges of participation; “contribution contracts,” or contact information for the RCWA network.
• Updates are sent out to the growing stakeholder network regarding observed areas of concern (AOC), events, participation opportunities and watershed information.Currently the stakeholder network and pledge participants total approximately 100 persons.
• Residents stepped forward to participate in the First RCWA Earth Day Celebration Project:  Creek Clean UP at Charlotte Avenue
• RCWA offers How-to Workshop; A Rain Barrel for your Garden, at Cohn Adult Learning Center on June 14 and September 19th. Adapted rain barrel given away at workshop to a lucky participant.

• August 29th gave the RCWA Water and Me; Water and Us PowerPoint presentation to all 7th grader science studies class at West End Middle School (WEMS).

• RCWA collaborates with community groups; for example, with Trailwatchers and Greenways for Nashville for a Fall greenway and creek clean up event.

RWCA History

Monette Rebecca, B.S. Environmental Science and stakeholder in Sylvan Park discovered a need for a public alliance to protect the Richland Creek Watershed.  After observing the first gully washer rain event and the large volume of NPS pollution entering the creek at Charlotte Avenue she was motivated to begin an assessment of the watershed. This led to the creation of RCWA.

About a year of visual assessment, historical research, and researching regulatory reporting for the watershed followed. She created a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the Richland Creek Watershed Alliance project in January 2007, which was presented to local leaders and organizations for peer review.  The alliance’s primary objectives were introduced as: educating the public on water resource sustainability and related issues and to encourage stakeholder participation in stewardship projects and programs; all aimed at the protection of this historically and environmentally significant watershed.


A little about the history of the watershed:

The Richland Creek Watershed was a hunting ground for several Native American Tribes for thousands of years before settlement of the area by American pioneers.

In October 1770, General James Robertson led ten pioneer families from North Carolina over the East Tennessee Mountains into the Watauga River valley to settle the area which would become the first settlement of Tennessee in 1796. When General Robertson came with this group of pioneers from North Carolina he represented the United States. He chose to build his log cabin (1779) along the creek he named “rich land,” because of its’ fertile soil, rich hunting and valuable water resource.

For a period, Richland Creek became part of the western boundary for the United States and therefore a significant historic treasure.

General Robertson named Charlotte  Pike for his wife and built his log cabin to be near the creek.  

Richland Creek Watershed holds  a historical significance for the city, state and  nation.