Water Quality Testing Training, Valdosta, GA 2018-09-16

Update 2018-09-14: agenda.

Both chemical and biological testing: you can get certified to do it. Georgia Adopt-A-Stream trainer Julie Shutters is coming to Valdosta for a six hour training course.

Tropical Storm Irma and after in Georgia
Tropical Storm Irma and after in Georgia

We haven’t forgotten Florida training; that will follow. We’re just starting with training for the biggest problem area for sewage, which is in Georgia in the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha River Basins (Tifton, Quitman, Valdosta, and Lowndes County).

When: 1-7PM, Sunday, September 16, 2018

Where: Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC)
327 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, GA 31601
plus sampling at a nearby river or creek.

Bring: an idea of where you can sample at least monthly, preferably weekly.

Event: facebook, meetup

Why: See the slides on Water Quality Monitoring in Georgia and Florida.

You don’t even need to get trained to do visual monitoring:

Four Levels of Monitoring

  1. Visual or anecdotal:✓ baseline and anomalies
  2. Chemical:* acidity to nitrates
  3. Biological:* sewage or cows?
  4. Metallic: things that will give you cancer

✓ What you can do without any training.
* What this course is about.

Visual or anecdotal

  • Take pictures; report with description: baseline or anomalies.
  • Regularly in the same places if you can, preferably weekly.
  • Plus anywhere and anytime: the more the merrier.
  • No course nor certification necessary.
  • No special equipment: smart phone, SLR, GoPro, drone, whatever.
  • Georgia Adopt-A-Stream has a Visual Stream Survey Manual:
    adoptastream.georgia.gov/documents/visual-stream-survey-complete-manual

How to report visual or anecdotal surveying:

  • People post on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. all the time.
    • Try finding those posts later.
  • Please report using Water Reporter: www.waterreporter.org
  • Used by many Waterkeepers
  • Anybody can sign up and report pictures and text
    • Join the Suwannee Riverkeeper group
    • Get the smartphone app
    • Go ahead and report pictures and text

We will also be putting chemical and biological results on WaterReporter, as well as on Georgia Adopt-A-Stream.

You can see some water quality data already on this map. If you click on the map’s picture icon (looks like mountains) you’ll also see some anecdotal reports on the same map.

Thanks to Julie Shutters, Implementation Manager, Golden Triangle RC&D, for volunteering to come down from Sylvester to do this.

Thanks to Corey Hull, SGRC Regional Transportation and Environmental Programs Director, for making the conference room available.

Thanks to Erica McLelland, new SGRC Environmental Project Manager, for working up followon trainer training.

Thanks to the WWALS Water Quality Testing Committee, Chair Bobby McKenzie, for working to make this happen, and for volunteering to get trained and to do testing.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!