Volunteers Trained For Local Water Monitoring

More than 20 volunteers attended a daylong training session to prepare themselves to take occasional samples of rivers and streams in in the region as part of a citizens’ water monitoring project. During the “God’s Country Water Dogs” session held Saturday at the Gunzburger Building in Coudersport, Julie Vastine, director of Dickinson College’s Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM), detailed how to take samplings and record information, and how to report incidents of environmental harm or concerns for public safety. Penn State Extension and God’s Country Chapter of Trout Unlimited assisted with the training session. Interest in monitoring local waterways for signs of disturbances has risen as a result of increased natural gas drilling, but Vastine emphasized that there are any number of potential contamination sources. (From Potter County Today)