URI Watershed Watch program seeks citizen scientists to monitor water quality

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s Watershed Watch program, now in its 29th year, is one of the longest-running citizen science projects in Rhode Island. It works with volunteers to collect data on water quality in the state’s lakes, ponds, streams and bays, and the data are used by watershed conservation organizations, policy makers, regulators and state and local officials to make decisions that improve and protect the health of local waters.

Now the program seeks new volunteers to help monitor water quality in local waterways from May through October. About 350 Watershed Watch volunteers monitor the water quality in 220 lakes, ponds, streams, bays and other water bodies in Rhode Island. Elizabeth Herron, Watershed Watch coordinator, said that last year’s very cold and snowy winter, coupled with this winter’s very warm weather, will make water quality monitoring this summer especially interesting.

Classroom training for new Watershed Watch volunteers will take place at URI’s Kingston campus on Saturday, April 2, at 9 a.m. It will be repeated on Wednesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. Field training will be conducted later in April. Volunteers come from all walks of life and are of all ages, occupations, educational backgrounds and interests. Volunteers are matched to a specific location – usually one that they already have a particular interest in – that they will be in charge of monitoring. Every week or two on a day of their choice, volunteers monitor for water clarity, temperature, algae concentrations and dissolved oxygen. On several designated dates, volunteers collect water samples that are brought to URI to be analyzed for nutrients, acidity and bacteria.

For more information or to register for the training sessions, contact Elizabeth Herron at (401) 874-4552 or emh@uri.edu. Visit web.uri.edu/watershedwatch for detailed information about the program and its list of 2016 monitoring locations.

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