The Official Blog of Alabama Water Watch
AWW Staffers Mona and Sydney were up in beautiful Florence, AL in early November to train the AWWesome staff from the Lauderdale County Extension Office and a former 4-H AWW student monitor who is now a teacher using AWW with her own students!
On August 19, AWW Staffers Mona and Sydney headed to Prattville to conduct a Water Chemistry and Bacteriological Monitoring Field Day in partnership with Alabama Watershed Stewards (AWS).
Continue reading “AWW Monitoring Training on Autauga Creek!”July 1 marked the midpoint of the year and, as we enter the second half of the year, just in case your New Year’s Resolution was to be very consistent with your Alabama Water Watch monitoring, this is a good point to check out your data. You can make sure all the data you have collected has been entered and is appearing in AWW Water Data.
This is an excellent time to ask yourself how you have progressed towards reaching your monitoring goals. Have you gone out as frequently as you had planned? If you wanted to add a new sampling site, did you do it? If you have not achieved your mid-year goals, take some time to reflect, and consider why, so you can adjust accordingly.
In late July 2022, AWW teamed up with Benjamin Moore Company (yes – the paint people!) to host an Exploring Our Living Streams (EOLS) Educator Workshop to teach educators how to help their students learn about stream biomonitoring and watershed stewardship.
The EOLS workshop was held at Benjamin Moore’s facility in Pell City, Alabama, which included a wonderful outdoor classroom and access to Fishing Creek in the Coosa River Basin.
Read more about the workshop and Benjamin Moore’s environmental education program below!
“Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle. They are effective, economical, and enhance community safety and quality of life. It means planting trees and restoring wetlands, rather than building a costly new water treatment plant.” – American Rivers
We were so excited to be back at it again in person! Volunteers, Trainers, AWWA Board Members, past and present AWW Staff, and partners gathered to celebrate 30 Years of Alabama Water Watch and the accomplishments of our volunteers!
Continue reading “Celebrating 30 Years of AWW at the Annual Meeting!”Congratulations to our 2021-2022 AWWard Winners! Thank you all for your dedication, enthusiasm, and incredible contributions to the AWW Program. You are an integral part of our team!
Continue reading “2022 VOLUNTEER AWARDS”
There is incredible biodiversity in the state of Alabama – including freshwater snails, mussels, fish, and turtles. However, much of our biodiversity remains enigmatic. One group of organisms we lack critical information about are freshwater red macroalgae. Though rarely truly red in color, they provide food and habitat for macroinvertebrates and may serve as indicators of good water quality. However, they are not included in current biodiversity surveys in Alabama. To better understand the ecological role and potential usefulness of these algae as bioindicators, we first need to figure out where to find them.
This is where Alabama Water Watch monitors come in! We are asking for your help in identifying potential freshwater red algal habitat by taking photos of freshwater streams including your monitoring sites. The Krueger-Hadfield Lab will examine the photographs to assess whether they may provide good freshwater red habitat and to determine if they should be included in their surveys. In the future, they plan to provide training and supplies for interested AWW monitors to collect and send algal samples to the Krueger-Hadfield Lab at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
How to submit your photo:
FAQ’s:
Q: Do you have to be an AWW Volunteer Monitor to participate?
A: NO! Anyone can participate!
Q: What if I see something that looks like red algae at the waterbody?
A: Take a photo and submit that in the Red Algal Citizen Science Google Form at the same time as your site photo.
Q: Do I have to return the waterbody to take another photo at a later date? (i.e. next month, next year)
A: No, one photo is enough for now. The Krueger-Hadfield lab will get in touch with you if they are interested in a follow-up photo of your site.
Q: Can I submit a photo of any freshwater stream?
A: Yes! Any flowing freshwater stream will be appropriate for this project.
If you’d like to learn more about freshwater red algae and the Red Algal Citizen Science Project at UAB, view the 3-1-2022 webinar recording, “Red Algal Citizen Science: A Search for Alabama’s Unknown Red Algal Biodiversity“.
AWW Staff and Volunteer Trainers have been busy bees this spring! Many organizations have started back hosting in-person events and activities, and folks were eager to get certified (or recertified) as AWW Volunteer Monitors!
Continue reading “Spring Training Recap”