Our comprehensive water monitoring programs train volunteers to conduct simple yet extremely useful tests of local waterways at various targeted points within the watershed region. The results of these tests are managed on a computer database and are published in seasonal progress reports shared with the Department of Environmental Protection, municipal authorities and interested citizens. Volunteers receive in-depth field training and attend workshops. They.are assigned in teams of two to a designated sampling station which they will monitor on Saturdays twice monthly. They conduct simple tests to measure parameters including nitrates, phosphates, pH, and dissolved oxygen.
Individuals conduct biological assessments of our waterways.
Volunteers are trained to conduct analysis of macroinvertebrates, which will help us asses the health, quality and biodiversity of our waterways. Alternate Monitors are needed to fill in for regular monitors when their schedules or an illness prevents them from being able to get out to the water on any given Saturday. The need for alternates is sporadic, yet crucial in maintaining the consistency of the program. Volunteers are needed to gather, organize and standardize the resuLts of our monitors' efforts, enter test results and observation into a data base, compile a newsletter for the program and various reports, maintain testing material inventories and respond to the needs of monitors. Acquiring, gathering and compiling information on water quality from various sources throughout the watershed is another essential component within StreamWatch.