Newton County has received a $300,000 grant - the Alcovy River Riparian Buffer Grant - from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division. "Riparian is simply a word that means along a stream," said Karl Kelley, director of the Newton County Water Resources Department. The grant money will go toward acquiring easements along the Alcovy River - the county's main source of drinking water - in hopes a protective land buffer will decrease or prevent water pollution.