Public invited to water quality monitoring workshop

The New York Water Sentinels are looking for new volunteers to expand its stream monitoring efforts in Tioga and Broome Counties and will be hosting a stream-monitoring workshop on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 117 Main St. in Owego, NY. Lunch will be provided.

Monitoring the quality of our drinking water is in the interest of everyone, regardless of one’s view on hydrofracking. The New York Water Sentinels program recruits and trains citizens to take regular water samples. During the training, participants will learn how to collect baseline data and monitor water quality using a protocol developed by the New York Water Sentinels and Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM).

The workshop will also include a presentation about the importance of community monitoring, the science behind shale gas drilling, and the water pollution that could stem from natural gas drilling. At the workshop, volunteers will develop the skills to monitor, collect, and analyze stream quality data.

Registration is required by Friday, Oct. 17 using the registration form linked to www.nywatersentinels.org, by contacting Erin Riddle by email to riddleriddle@gmail.com, or Scott Lauffer by email to lauffer.scott@gmail.com.

A contribution of $35 is requested to help cover the cost of training and the purchase of monitoring equipment. This sum is reimbursable to volunteers that participate in 15 sample grabs and two quality control procedures over a 12-month period.

The workshop will be conducted by the New York Water Sentinels, an affiliate of the Sierra Club, in cooperation with ALLARM, based out of Dickinson College.

Since June 2010, ALLARM has conducted more than 60 trainings with over 1,400 participants in Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia to build community capacity to collect and analyze water quality data.

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