Since 1990, LTWA Biomonitoring Program Director Dr. William O. McLarney, has been monitoring the Little Tennessee River basin, even before the Little Tennessee Watershed Association was founded.  Over 2,000 volunteers have participated on more than 150 sites, generating the largest fish-based biomonitoring database in the world for any comparable sized watershed. Each year, LTWA uses these data to issue reports that provide community leaders with feedback on water quality and general ecosystem health, and to advocate for changed behavior that will improve water quality and habitat. Working with the Long Term Ecological Research program at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, as well as other partners, we transitioned from a semi-structured data management system to an integrated database that is publically available and easy to access online.

The information made available through the massive reorganization of LTWA’s data set provided justification to North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) to greatly expand several existing Significant Natural Heritage Area by adding several previously unlisted tributary streams.
These are identified as important aquatic habitats and are using in defining conservation priorities.

The Biomonitoring Program data are also an important contributor to the NC Wildlife Resource Commission’s efforts to monitor the status of aquatic species and their habitats, determine habitat use and ecological relationships vital to the conservation of priority species, raise awareness and stewardship within the watershed, prioritize and conserve areas vital to the biological integrity of aquatic communities, and direct action to conserve priority species and their habitats. We also continue to partner closely with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s biomonitoring program and have a rich history of cooperation with that agency. Through years of data collection, our work has helped influenced local policy including:

• Brought about improvements in the Town of Franklin's WWTP (ca. 1993)
• Helping to justify the protection of the Needmore Area
• The requirement of a more stringent discharge permit for the Fruit of the Loom plant in Rabun County in 1994 and again in 2010
• In building scientific and public support for the Macon County Floodplain Ordinance
• In defeating a proposed RV park and wastewater treatment plant near Iotla Bridge and an RV park on Cartoogechaye Creek in Macon County
• In bringing about a Macon County resolution opposing any new point-sources north of Lake Emory, an unparalleled initiative for a county government
• In  developing a Crawford Branch Watershed Protection Plan  
• Has brought substantial funding to Macon County through the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, which totals over $1.5 million to date

The Biomonitoring Program has grown over the years, starting solely as a fish-based IBI. In addition to annual IBI monitoring, several assessments have been completed for various purposes including: a Cartoogechaye Creek Municipal Watershed Assessment, A Watershed survey of Betty Creek at the Hambidge Center, the Movement of spotfin chub (Erimonax monachus) in Tributaries of the Upper Little Tennessee River , and an Inventory and Assessment of Barriers to Aquatic Organism Passage (below Lake Emory to Fontana Reservoir, 2007; GA/NC state line to Lake Emory, 2011).

Over time, we have adopted additional measures to evaluate the health of the stream to enhance the usefulness of the data and to export this successful model of citizen engagement to other watersheds in the Basin. Such practices include macroinvertebrate collection and Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP). We are currently working with Dave Penrose and Watershed Science Inc. to expand the benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring portion of this program. Working with the Dr. Catherine Pringle and her graduate students at University of Georgia and the Long Term Ecological Research program at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, we have also modified the national SVAP to fit the region and made it user-friendly so that non-scientists can easily use it, serving as an outreach tool for landowners and concerned citizens. Together, these tools are important to both the Program’s data collection goals and to its public education goals.


It is a core goal that our efforts go beyond the confines of the LTWA office, we strive to reach out to the community to inform them of the health of their environment and give them knowledge to empower them to make a difference. Such education activities include:

• Provide informal courses through volunteer biomonitoring activities for individuals and groups from many organizations including Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory interns, Franklin High School, Macon Middle School, The Mountain Retreat Center, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, Southwestern Community College, Upward Bound, Outward Bound, NCCAT, and others
• Provide on-site training for Costa Rican biologists in biomonitoring methods
• Create a Biomonitoring Curriculum for Macon County schools in partnership with Coweeta Hydrologic Lab
• Participate with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s “Kids in the Creek” program

Awards –
Dr. McLarney’s biomonitoring efforts have earned the following awards:
Esther Cunningham Award from the Western North Carolina Alliance in 1993
Outstanding Individual award from Southern Appalachian Man And the Biosphere in 1994
Water Conservationist of the Year (1994) from North Carolina Governor’s Award
River Heroes (2004) from River Network
Outstanding Conservation Biologist (2009) by Wildsouth

Publications –
A Field Guide to the Fishes of the Upper Little Tennessee Watershed (2002)
The State of the Streams in the Upper Little Tennessee Watershed (2004, 2011)
IBI Monitoring in the Upper Little Tennessee Watershed Report (1990-2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Mini-Reports