{"id":58124,"date":"2016-03-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-watershed-watch-program-seeks-citizen-scientists-to-monitor-water-quality-in-states-water-bodies\/"},"modified":"2016-03-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T00:00:00","slug":"uri-watershed-watch-program-seeks-citizen-scientists-to-monitor-water-quality-in-states-water-bodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/03\/uri-watershed-watch-program-seeks-citizen-scientists-to-monitor-water-quality-in-states-water-bodies\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 Watershed Watch program seeks citizen scientists to monitor water quality in state\u2019s water bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tExtreme winter weather likely to affect lakes, ponds, streams<\/b><\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. — March 9, 2016 — Last summer the Obama Administration encouraged government science agencies to promote citizen science projects to help collect data for certain programs. The announcement signaled the government\u2019s recognition of the value of crowd-sourcing for scientific research. But it isn\u2019t a new idea.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Watershed Watch program, now in its 29th year, is one of the longest running citizen science projects in Rhode Island. It has been working with volunteers to collect data on water quality in the state\u2019s lakes, ponds, streams and bays since 1988. The data the volunteers collect is 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.<\/p>\n


\n\tNow the program is seeking new volunteers to help monitor water quality in local waterways from May through October. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cCitizen science is hot now, but we\u2019ve been doing it for three decades,\u201d said Elizabeth Herron, Watershed Watch coordinator. \u201cBecause we work with hundreds of volunteers, we can collect more data more often, which in the long run tells us more and more about the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t溏心vlog免费B站 350 Watershed Watch volunteers monitor the water quality in 220 lakes, ponds, streams, bays and other water bodies in Rhode Island. They play a critical role in helping scientists understand the effect that weather and land use have on water quality in the state. Analysis of the 28 years of data collected by program volunteers has identified changes in water temperature, nutrients, bacteria, algae and other factors that affect the health of aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n


\n\tHerron said that last year\u2019s very cold and snowy winter, coupled with this winter\u2019s very warm weather, will make water quality monitoring this summer especially interesting.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe had experienced a three-year decline in water quality and an increase in harmful algae blooms in some places from 2012 to 2014,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then last year everything went back to where it had been 10 years ago at those sites. It\u2019s going to be really fascinating to see what happens this year. The warm winter means the plants will start to grow earlier, and algae should start growing earlier, too.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tLinda Green, director of Watershed Watch, said the fairly dry conditions will also have significant implications for water quality.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cSome lakes and ponds in Rhode Island do really well in dry years because there is little roadway run-off carrying nutrients and pollutants into the water,\u201d she said. \u201cBut other lakes need that run-off to flush out pollutants that are already in the water. And, of course, no stream benefits from drying up.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWater quality monitoring isn\u2019t sexy or exciting, but if you miss a year of monitoring, especially a year like last year, then you lose a year of data,\u201d added Herron. \u201cThat makes it difficult to understand the whole story of what\u2019s going on in our water bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nClassroom training for new Watershed Watch volunteers will take place at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n


\nVolunteers come from all walks of life and are of all ages, occupations, educational backgrounds and interests. Volunteers are matched to a specific location \u2013 usually one that they already have a particular interest in \u2013 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.

\nOn several designated dates, volunteers collect water samples that are brought to 溏心vlog免费B站 to be analyzed for nutrients, acidity and bacteria. <\/p>\n


\nAccording to Herron and Green, many volunteers work in teams to share their monitoring duties. Monitoring can also be an enjoyable family activity for parents and their children, and teens can use it to gain required community service hours.<\/p>\n


\nPonds, lakes and some saltwater sites are monitored at their deepest point, so access to a boat, canoe or kayak is necessary. But few river and stream sites require a boat.<\/p>\n


\nWatershed Watch is sponsored by 溏心vlog免费B站 Cooperative Extension in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and about 40 local organizations and communities.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOur newest partner is the town of Warren, which is looking for volunteers for coastal water quality monitoring, modeled after the successful efforts by Save Bristol Harbor,\u201d said Herron. \u201cNorth Kingstown is also expanding its lake monitoring to include Wickford Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFor more information or to register for the training sessions, contact Elizabeth Herron at 401-874-4552 or at emh@uri.edu. Visit the program\u2019s website at Watershed Watch<\/a> for detailed information about the program and its list of 2016 monitoring locations.\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Extreme winter weather likely to affect lakes, ponds, streams KINGSTON, R.I. — March 9, 2016 — Last summer the Obama Administration encouraged government science agencies to promote citizen science projects to help collect data for certain programs. The announcement signaled the government\u2019s recognition of the value of crowd-sourcing for scientific research. But it isn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}