AWWareness

by: eric reutebuch

On June 13th, the AWW Annual Meeting took place in Auburn, AL. You can read the highlights from this great get-together in the previous blog article: Who’s watching our water

One of our favorite things to do during the AWW Annual Meeting is to recognize several of the dedicated volunteers who have  gone above and beyond the call of duty for the year.

Through the years, there are several awards that have become AWW standards. The Mullen Award is one of those quintessential awards. This award is intended to recognize the individual who has submitted more water data records than any other monitor during the last 12 months.  It is called the Mullen Award because Mike and Alice Mullen turn in such a large amount of records each year that no one else can ever beat them. We thought that naming the award after them was only appropriate! This year Mike submitted 318 records and Alice submitted 107!  That’s a lot of hours streamside!!

Continue reading “2015 AWW Award Winners”

by: eric reutebuch

I first met LaVerne at an annual meeting of the Smith Lake water watchers several years ago. He immediately struck me as a straightforward gentleman who was concerned about preserving and protecting the environment and was committed to doing something about it. He introduced himself and then asked me ‘can we get AWW to come up to Winston County and conduct some of your water testing classes for us?” I replied that we would be thrilled to train folks in Winston County in water quality monitoring since we had no volunteer water monitors there. And thus it began. Continue reading “We miss you, LaVerne!”

One of the most common misconceptions that we, the AWW staff, frequently encounter in our travels throughout the state is “the state is looking after my creek/river/lake/bay/bayou, right?” Unfortunately, in the majority of cases, the answer is “sort of”. With more than 77,000 miles of streams/rivers and over half a million acres of pond/lakes/reservoirs in the state, even a well-funded state agency would be hard-pressed to monitor Alabama’s waters, let alone a state agency that’s been cut to the bone, as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management has been.

Enter Alabama Water Watch. As the AWW monitors, trainers and friends from eight of the state’s ten major basins learned at AWW’s Annual Gathering on Saturday, June 13th, the collective efforts of hundreds of citizen volunteer monitors are taking up the slack.

Continue reading “Who’s watching our water?”

By: Eric Reutebuch

Good question, Mr. Lorax! A group of fourteen enthusiastic citizen volunteers joined AWW staffers, Sergio Ruiz –Córdova and Mona Dominguez, to participate in an Exploring Our Living Steams workshop for an answer. The two-day workshop was conducted at New Site, AL, organized and sponsored by Sabrina Wood, Alabama Clean Water Partnership Facilitator for the Tallapoosa Basin. Folks came from Alexander City, Jackson’s Gap, Dadeville, Eclectic, Wedowee, Montgomery, Rockford, Auburn and Daviston to learn about Alabama’s streams. Continue reading “Who speaks for the streams?”

by: eric reutebuch

It was a bitter-sweet day last Tuesday when we gathered downstairs here in the CASIC Building for the retirement celebration of our director, Dr.  Sam Fowler.

Continue reading “We’ll miss you, Dr. Fowler!”

by: eric reutebuch

On April 1st, 2015 the 15-yr old FrontPage server that hosts the AWW Online Database will be turned off forever. But don’t despair – our database gurus, Jim Johnson and Sergio (below), have worked countless long hours and late nights over the past 12 months to update and transfer the AWW database to a newer-faster-better server!

Continue reading “AWW Database Transition”

by: eric reutebuch

The staff of Alabama Water Watch was saddened by the news of Jerald Conway’s death in late 2014. Jerald worked at the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board for 38 years and was the Director of Environmental Services there.

Continue reading “AWW is saddened by the loss of an elite water monitor”

With the assistance of AWW volunteer monitors from Lake Watch of Lake Martin and Logan Martin Lake Protection Association, AWW completed a bacteriological study of public swim beaches on the two lakes last fall. Along with information about the levels of bacteria found in the water and in the sand/sediment below the water, the Lake Watch folks worked closely with the good folks at Wind Creek State Park and established the first Swim Guide site on Lake Martin. Continue reading “There’s an app for that!”

by Ashley Campbell, CPESC, Environmental Program’s Manager, City of Daphne

The City Daphne is an ADEM permitted Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4).  As part of the City’s implementation of its Stormwater Management Program Plan, the City purchased water test kits to introduce citizens to volunteer water monitoring.

Continue reading “City of Daphne purchases AWW water testing kits for local volunteers”