Volunteers Needed for World Water Monitoring Day

(AMHERST, MA) – The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Massachusetts is seeking local volunteers to collect data for area streams and water bodies this fall as part of World Water Monitoring Day. Volunteers will serve on NRCS’s Earth Team, the agency’s on-going volunteer program.

America’s Clean Water Foundation began World Water Monitoring Day in 2002 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the United States’ Clean Water Act. World Water Monitoring Day serves as a global educational platform to help the public understand how the actions of individuals in a watershed can impact many others.

NRCS will provide Earth Team volunteers with water monitoring kits and instructions for testing temperature, turbidity, pH, and dissolved oxygen levels of water. These volunteers will enter the information online through the World Water Monitoring Day website.

The monitoring period begins on September 18, 2004 and ends October 18, 2004. If you would like more information on World Water Monitoring Day please visit www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.  To participate in World Water Monitoring Day as an Earth Team volunteer apply online at www.volunteer.gov/gov or contact Rachael Phillips at (508) 771-6476. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old.

In 2003, over 5,200 sites were registered with 433 sites registered outside the United States. NRCS had two Massachusetts Earth Team volunteers monitoring several sites last year, and the agency hopes to have more this year.

Since 1981, NRCS has provided volunteers with opportunities to use their talents on behalf of conservation through the Earth Team program.

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Media Contact:

Diane Baedeker Petit
413-253-4371
Diane.Petit@ma.usda.gov

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