Free training to be conducted April 28 at WKU
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (April 19, 2012) —The Kentucky Watershed Watch Program is offering free training to persons interested in learning how to take water samples and monitor water quality in the Upper Green River Basin.
The training will be Saturday, April 28, from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 2134 of the Engineering Biologic Science Building located at 1500 Chestnut Street on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green. Participants are advised to dress for field work, because some of the training will take place at a local stream.
Volunteers will be taught to take qualified water samples that will be analyzed by a professional laboratory. They will also learn how to collect basic water quality field data.
“No previous experience is required to become a Watershed Watch volunteer,” said Dale Reynolds, Kentucky Division of Water (DOW) coordinator of the Upper Green River Basin. “We welcome anyone who is willing to pitch in to help protect the waterways of their community.”
Watershed Watch volunteers in the Upper Green River Basin participate in three annual sampling events in waterways that flow through Adair, Allen, Barren, Breckenridge, Butler, Casey, Edmonson, Grayson, Green, Hardin, Hart, Larue, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson, Taylor and Warren counties. The May samples are tested for pesticides and herbicides, the July samples for pathogens and the September samples for metals and salts.
“Volunteer activities help scientists understand the effect that weather and land use have on local water bodies,” said Paulette Akers, manager of the DOW Watershed Management Branch. “The information they provide allows Kentucky to have an extensive database of current water quality information.”
Prospective participants are asked to register for the April 28 training event by visiting the Kentucky Watershed Watch website at http://eppcapp.ky.gov/watershed/ and clicking on the Watershed Watch Event Registration button in the lower left-hand side of the window. Then check the “Enroll” box for GRWW Combined Training Workshop – WKU and at the bottom of the page click on the “Submit Registration” button.
The training is co-sponsored by the Kentucky Division of Water, the Virginia Environmental Endowment, the Upper Green River Watershed Watch, the City of Bowling Green Public Works Department and Warren County Stormwater Management. It is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under of the Clean Water Act, through KDOW to Watershed Watch in Kentucky.
For more information, call Dale Reynolds at 1-270-746-7475.
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