The Official Blog of Alabama Water Watch
In March 2012, AWW responded to a request for public input relative to ADEM’s 2012 draft 303(d) list of impaired streams. AWW examined volunteer monitor water data collected in recent years, and requested that ADEM consider this wealth of information as it evaluated the condition of the state’s streams, rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
ADEM held their Triennial Review of Alabama’s Water Quality Standards on July 19th, 2012. This review, conducted every three years, is a public hearing that gives the public an opportunity to become involved in the state’s water quality evaluation and review process through submission of data and comments.
AWW’s goal is not only to educate Alabama’s citizenry in water quality testing, but to empower people to use their water data and knowledge of water issues to become actively involved in the management of their local water resources.
In keeping with this data-to-action strategy, AWW water data from the past five years were queried and analyzed relative to ADEM water quality standards. Two queries were run, one to evaluate AWW sites based on dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and the other based on pathogen (E. coli bacteria) concentration. During this period, 13,437 water chemistry (six parameters, including DO) and 4,910 bacteria records were submitted to the AWW online database.
Results of the queries of these 18,000+ data records indicated that 20 streams were impaired from low DO (less than 5 ppm) and 9 waterbodies were impaired from excessive E. coli levels, based on defined criteria.
Click here for additional information included in the comments submitted to ADEM’s Triennial Review.
AWW was recently featured in River Network’s newsletter, River Voices, with an article titled ‘Volunteer Monitoring Data: Data to Action Southern Style’.
Auburn University is fortunate to have a dedicated group of student environmentalists on campus who make up the Environmental Awareness Organization (EAO). EAO members have regular meetings which usually involve a special activity or speaker meant to enrich their knowledge of environmental issues. Although the group is small they manage to support many environmental initiatives around Auburn including game-day recycling, the Green Living Workshop, the Recycled Art Workshop, and Earth Fest.
Each year local bands, vendors, and other environmental organizations set up stage in the Donald E. Davis Arboretum on Auburn University’s campus for an all day event called EarthFest, which is open to the public. Not only is EarthFest an opportunity for folks to celebrate Earth Day, it’s an opportunity for environmental organizations to promote their causes, and a fundraiser for EAO. This year’s EarthFest was a huge success!
Throughout the years many members of the EAO have become AWW water monitors, and have monitored sites throughout the Auburn area. They understand the mission of AWW and feel that it is an important organization for Alabama. As a gesture of their support to AWW, EAO decided to donate portion of their EarthFest proceeds to AWW. On April 25th, EAO members presented AWW with a check for $500!
AWW is very appreciative of this generous gift! This donation will allow new monitors to be certified through AWW workshops, and will provide chemicals to active monitors so that they can continue to collect valuable water data. This group of young, dedicated, and giving individuals should be an inspiration to us all and a glimpse of what the future of Alabama’s environmental movement can be. Thanks again EAO!
For more information or to become a member of the Environmental Awareness Organization visit http://auburneao.weebly.com/.
Lexie Larkin is a 15-year old ninth grader at Sumter Academy in York, Alabama. She loves sports, especially volleyball, basketball and softball. Unfortunately, she suffered two knee injuries with two accompanying knee surgeries that influenced her to pursue other interests.
Lexie’s uncle Bill Peters and aunt Flo live on Fogle Lake near Alabaster, Alabama. Bill and Flo have been certified as Alabama Water Watch (AWW) water monitors, and have monitored the lake for over two years. Bill is also in the process of becoming an AWW trainer so that he can train others to monitor. During her visits to the lake, Bill and Flo got Lexie interested in water monitoring, and taught her how to do the various water chemistry tests. The standard AWW kit, manufactured by LaMotte, measures six parameters: temperature, pH, alkalinity, hardness, turbidity and dissolved oxygen.
Continue reading “Water Watching inspires a Sumter Eagle to soar!”
Pat and Tom Lynch moved to their home on Lake Martin seven years ago, drawn by its beauty and high water quality. They quickly gravitated to Lake Watch of Lake Martin, the volunteer monitor group that has been watching over the lake for the past two decades. They got trained and certified by Alabama Water Watch (AWW) in water quality monitoring, and adopted a site at the Elk’s Lodge, where they’ve been faithfully monitoring for four years.
Wishing to share their love of the lake and spirit of stewardship with others, they became involved in youth education through interactions with local schools. They teamed up with Dick and Mary Ann Bronson, who developed a whole program of environmental education activities for the gifted class at Radney School. The program linked certified and experienced Lake Watch water monitors and Auburn University scientists to the class curriculum, introducing students to in-class and beyond-the-classroom experiences to inspire them about the sciences.
The Lynches spread their stewardship experiences beyond the state borders by inspiring Jessica Blanchard, their granddaughter in St Cloud, Florida to think about water for her 7th grade project for the school science fair. They shared their Radney School experiences with her, and introduced her to Exploring Alabama’s Living Streams, an AMSTI-accredited environmental curriculum developed by AWW. She latched on to Water
Usage and Conservation and ran with it!
Continue reading “AWW Water Watchers inspire water conservation beyond Alabama”
Save Our Saugahatchee (S.O.S.) celebrated the 15th anniversary of its founding at its April 19, 2012 bi-monthly meeting. S.O.S was incorporated as a non-profit in April 1997 with the mission of improving the quality of Saugahatchee Creek and educating the public about the value of the creek. The initial board of directors who incorporated S.O.S. in 1997 were Alex Bailey, Eric Reutebuch, Tom Ivers, Ron Estridge, Claude Conn, Ken Olson, and Johnny Crance. Tom Ivers served as the first President of the new group.
And, can YOU make a difference in protecting and preserving the world, or at least a piece of it? I recently got a lesson in what individuals can do to make our world a better place.
Congratulations to the Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Group for receiving the Rise to the Future, National Hydrology, and Soil Science Award from the U.S. Forestry Service. WCSLAI was “recognized for their partnership with the National Forests in Alabama to sponsor lake shore clean up events as part of Alabama Power Company’s “Renew Our Rivers” campaign. Over the past six years, the partnership has engaged to the local community and convened hundreds of volunteers to remove approximately 180 tons of litter (appliances, Styrofoam, tires, boating and fishing accessories). Over 166 tributary river miles on Smith Lake have also been targeted. Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Group is accredited for raising environmental awareness and engaging a broad coalition of community businesses and groups and the entire staff of the Bankhead National Forest in this effort. Click here to see all 2011 Rise to the Future winners.
Many of you participated in the first annual Alabama Gives Day on February 2, 2012, by donating to Alabama Water Watch and/or by encouraging others to do so (go to www.alabamagivesday.org to learn more). Thanks to you over $1300 were raised for the AWW Association who funds workshops, chemical replacements for active volunteers, and other important services provided by AWW. The AWW Association is a membership based non-profit organization that enables citizens to contribute their experiences, services, membership dues and gifts to ensure that AWW will continue to educate, train, and empower citizens through community-based watershed stewardship for years to come.
If you didn’t have a chance to give on Alabama Gives Day, don’t worry, you can become a membership or make a gift to AWW 365 days a year by visiting the “Support AWW” button on the AWW homepage (www.alabamawaterwatch.org) or by sending a membership form and check to:
Alabama Water Watch Association
P.o. Box 3294
Auburn, AL 36830
