Riverwatch Trains Volunteers To Monitor H20 Quality
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
Through the program, volunteers are trained to perform regular tests and record observations to assess the condition of the flowing bodies of water in their communities. Each volunteer chooses a 200-foot section of a body of water in their area to monitor. Through Riverwatch training workshops, volunteers learn to use chemical and biological tests, along with habitat evaluation criteria, to record the condition of their section of stream.[[In-content Ad]]Through the tests, volunteers are looking for indicators of problems with the water quality and status of the natural habitat along their section of stream.
Trainers take volunteers through the Riverwatch training manual, and volunteers get hands-on practice for each step in the monitoring process. The training manual also contains appendices for volunteers to reference to identify aquatic insects and animals found in their section of stream, as well as conversion tables and report forms.
At a recent Riverwatch workshop in Winona Lake, trainers Mary Cutler and Darci Zolman told a group teachers, lake association officers and Department of Natural Resources employees that Riverwatch's goals are educational and environmental as well as community-oriented and personal.
"You develop a real ownership and familiarity with a partial section of a stream," Cutler said. "You kind of get to be the expert on that area of the stream."
Cutler said the data gathered by volunteers is useful in identifying problems, and also provides data to reinforce applications for grants by projects aimed at improving local water quality.
"It can be really useful if people stick with it over time," Cutler said, "but that's the key - sticking with it."
Volunteers are asked to test their sample sections at least twice a year.
"If you're doing water testing, the thing that really tells us something is the trend," said Zolman. "That trend over time really tells us something about the water quality."
The county's rivers and streams aren't isolated. Kosciusko County has more than 100 lakes, most of which are fed by flowing bodies of water. Can monitoring streams ad rivers contribute to cleaner lakes?
"Absolutely," Zolman said, "because, especially if you're testing what comes in and what goes out, it really helps pinpoint where problems might be coming from."
Zolman said, as more volunteers get involved, Riverwatch's effectiveness will grow.
"We'll hopefully see impacts on the individual personal level and then at the bigger level of statewide water quality in general," she said.
For more information, visit www.riverwatch.in.gov
Through the program, volunteers are trained to perform regular tests and record observations to assess the condition of the flowing bodies of water in their communities. Each volunteer chooses a 200-foot section of a body of water in their area to monitor. Through Riverwatch training workshops, volunteers learn to use chemical and biological tests, along with habitat evaluation criteria, to record the condition of their section of stream.[[In-content Ad]]Through the tests, volunteers are looking for indicators of problems with the water quality and status of the natural habitat along their section of stream.
Trainers take volunteers through the Riverwatch training manual, and volunteers get hands-on practice for each step in the monitoring process. The training manual also contains appendices for volunteers to reference to identify aquatic insects and animals found in their section of stream, as well as conversion tables and report forms.
At a recent Riverwatch workshop in Winona Lake, trainers Mary Cutler and Darci Zolman told a group teachers, lake association officers and Department of Natural Resources employees that Riverwatch's goals are educational and environmental as well as community-oriented and personal.
"You develop a real ownership and familiarity with a partial section of a stream," Cutler said. "You kind of get to be the expert on that area of the stream."
Cutler said the data gathered by volunteers is useful in identifying problems, and also provides data to reinforce applications for grants by projects aimed at improving local water quality.
"It can be really useful if people stick with it over time," Cutler said, "but that's the key - sticking with it."
Volunteers are asked to test their sample sections at least twice a year.
"If you're doing water testing, the thing that really tells us something is the trend," said Zolman. "That trend over time really tells us something about the water quality."
The county's rivers and streams aren't isolated. Kosciusko County has more than 100 lakes, most of which are fed by flowing bodies of water. Can monitoring streams ad rivers contribute to cleaner lakes?
"Absolutely," Zolman said, "because, especially if you're testing what comes in and what goes out, it really helps pinpoint where problems might be coming from."
Zolman said, as more volunteers get involved, Riverwatch's effectiveness will grow.
"We'll hopefully see impacts on the individual personal level and then at the bigger level of statewide water quality in general," she said.
For more information, visit www.riverwatch.in.gov
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