[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS -WATER QUALITY- 4/21/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

April 21, 2009

 

4. Water Quality –

 

TESTING THE WATERS: Sanctuary officials invite community to help monitor water

The Monterey Herald – 4/21/09

By Lily Dayton

 

The Central Coast is home to one of the nation's most valuable treasures, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

 

Spanning 276 miles of coastline from Marin to Cambria, the sanctuary encompasses 5,322 square-miles of ocean — more area than Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks. This federally protected area supports one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, including North America's largest kelp forest.

 

There are 173 freshwater rivers, streams and creeks that flow into the sanctuary, as well as anything that is dumped or discharged into them. Water quality of downstream water bodies — including the ocean — is directly affected by upstream activity.

 

In association with Earth Day 2009, Monterey Bay Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network and the Coastal Watershed Council will coordinate the 10th annual Snapshot Day on Saturday, May 2. By enlisting the help of hundreds of community volunteers, this event will provide a one-day "snapshot" of the health of watersheds that drain into Monterey Bay. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds on the Central Coast are invited to come out and become stewards of their watersheds by sampling a local water body.

 

"This is a great activity to get outside and learn about what's going on," said Bridget Hoover, director of the Water Quality Protection Program at the MBNMS. She adds that families with children are welcome, too. "We love for families to be involved. There are a lot of things kids can do — testing, filling out data sheets, cleaning up trash."

 

Though it isn't mandatory, she strongly recommends that volunteers attend the training workshop this Sunday at the sanctuary office in Monterey. Participants will learn about the history of the program, monitoring protocols, field safety and event logistics. Volunteers will be trained to monitor temperature, turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH, and to collect water samples that will be sent to a laboratory to test for levels of nitrate, orthophosphate and bacteria.

 

All Monterey County participants will meet at the "hub," the R.E.I. in Marina, at 9 a.m. on May 2. There will be refreshments offered and presentations by Paul Michelle, superintendent of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; Bruce Delgado, mayor of Marina; and Rep. Sam Farr. Volunteers will get a chance to check their equipment and ask any questions they may have. By 9:45a.m., everyone should be on their way out to sampling sites.

 

"There are 70 sites in Monterey County," said Hoover. "We'll have 15 different teams, divided by geographic area. Each team will be made of at least three people, with one lead person who's done it before. We don't want people to be intimidated by thinking they will have to go out by themselves or that they won't know what to do. It will be as low-key and fun as possible."

 

Volunteers will also get a choice as to which site they would like to monitor. "We have diverse monitoring sites, such as Elkhorn Slough, the Carmel River and Salinas Valley," said Hoover. "These are very different types of ecosystems — some more healthy and pristine, some more urban and channelized."

 

"Since this is our 10th anniversary year, we'll have a real celebration afterwards and we encourage all participants to come back to the hub. We'll have food and music. Volunteers can come back together and share their stories — mishaps, cool wildlife viewing, and excitement."While volunteers meet at the hub in Marina, there will also be 100 other people meeting in Santa Cruz and 100 more in San Luis Obispo.

 

"In 2003 we led a Statewide Snapshot Day from the Oregon border to Mexico. A lot of those areas are still doing it — Orange County, San Diego and Lake Tahoe have their own Snapshot Day," she said.

 

Ross Clark, the Central Coast water quality coordinator for the California Coastal Commission, said that this effort was first conceived 10 years ago between several different entities concerned with water quality on the Central Coast, including the sanctuary, the Watershed Council, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the Coastal Commission and the Ocean Conservancy.

 

"There were a lot of little watershed groups doing water monitoring — we needed a way to get everyone together so our data could talk together," said Clark.

 

This spawned the Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network, and Snapshot Day began. "The idea was to get the local community involved in the watershed," said Hoover. "We took the opportunity to make the connection between land and sea and to show how everything we do on land really affects the ocean."

 

Volunteers not only learn about the importance of healthy watersheds, they become stewards of these resources. The data they collect is used by resource agencies, local governments and community groups to assess the health of local water bodies.

 

"This 10-year anniversary highlights a standard set of data collected in the same way for the past 10 years so we can show long-term trends. It highlights the places with good water quality that we need to protect as well as areas of concern where we need to invest more resources or management actions."

 

"Even though it's just one day a year, we see strong patterns related to land use," said Hoover. "In areas with lots of people or areas with heavy agricultural use, there is more pollution. The San Mateo Coast and the Big Sur Coast have open space and sparse population and they are relatively healthy compared to other areas. In urban areas or heavy agriculture areas we see more pollution — and this is consistent year to year. In general, in the Pajaro Watershed and Salinas Valley, we see a high nutrient concentration in the water. Near cities, we see high orthophosphate and bacteria concentrations."

 

"I think the greatest success of Snapshot Day is that it demonstrates that individuals can get out and contribute valuable information and help protect the environment," said Hoover. "Last year, we had somewhere in the range of 150-200 volunteers. Without them, we couldn't get a snapshot of water quality on the Central Coast." #

 

http://www.montereyherald.com/living/ci_12189727

 

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