PRIDE Water Quality Assessment Project

The PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment) initiative was first announced by U.S. Congressman Harold "Hal" Rogers and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet Secretary James Bickford in 1997. PRIDE is the first comprehensive, region-wide, 10caVstate/federal cooperative effort designed to address the serious challenge of cleaning up the region's rivers and streams. The initiative is focusing on 40 separate counties located in the southeastern part of Kentucky that form the headwaters for the Big Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Green and Cumberland river basins. Also included in the region are small segments of the Salt and Little Sandy river basins. Since it's formation in 1997, PRIDE has helped coordinate several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CaE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects in the 40 PRIDE counties, many of which focus on the elimination of straight pipes and the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants. Specific funding to PRIDE has been provided through the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in support of the continuing aquatic resources environmental initiative. These funds have been used to support various initiatives including: 1) the PRIDE community grant program, 2) the PRIDE environmental education grant program, 3) the PRIDE septic system loan program, 4) the PRIDE septic system grant program, 5) the PRIDE wastewater construction program, and 6) the PRIDE super grant program.