By Jera Dills
Dee is a Volunteer Monitor in the Guntersville Lake area. Read more about Dee in her interview below!
Where do you call home?
Guntersville, Alabama
What got you interested in Alabama Water Watch, and why is water quality monitoring important to you?
A few years ago, we moved to a home on Lake Guntersville in North Alabama from the Gulf Coast. We naturally became interested in water quality as our home is on the Lake and we are avid water people. We love swimming, boating, paddle boarding, and kayaking in the waters of the Tennessee Watershed just steps from our home. Also, as an avid birder I know that changes in water quality can impact the aquatic creatures that form the diet of the birds that make their home along Lake Guntersville and in turn can impact their incredible diversity and numbers… things I enjoy every day.
What is the most interesting thing you have seen while sampling?
Every single time we do our water testing I encounter an amazing abundance of wildlife but, my favorites so far are: 23 Wilson’s Snipe at one location, a Loggerhead Shrike hunting, and a wee Armadillo who wasn’t bothered by our shenanigans in the least!
What are your biggest challenges/issues in your favorite watershed?
Runoff from upstream of some of our testing sites and human disregard for the cleanliness of our watershed. Litter in the lake!
Why would you encourage others to consider becoming volunteer monitors?
Clean water is vital to all life and as Water Watch monitors, we can be a part of monitoring the quality of the water in the watersheds we love all across our state and take action to keep them clean, safe, and enjoyable for us and future generations.