I&A Today

2002 Water Snapshot: Volunteerism At Its Best

LaMotte Helps Out in Water Quality Assessment Campaign

By Clarke Rupert, Assistant Public Information Officer, Delaware River Basin Commision

Every year around Earth Day, hundreds of dedicated folks in the Delaware River Basin – a 13,539 square mile area that drains parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware – check on the health of local rivers and streams.

From governors to school children, they clamor down banks to visit the still chilly waters of early spring and take part in Water Snapshot, an event designed to create an awareness of local watersheds, the crucial role they play in our lives, and the need for stewardship.

Young and old, experienced and first-timers, they collect water quality data. Some conduct a visual assessment or use simple test kits, while others use sophisticated instruments. The data will be compiled and posted on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) web site at www.drbc.net without regard to the precision of the analytical method or the expertise of the sampler. Snapshot results are not intended to reflect exact science, but rather demonstrate the public’s commitment to learn more about the quality of the basin’s waters.

Participants are provided with a data sheet to use in recording the information they collect. The back of the sheet includes a visual assessment for those who want to participate, but do not have access to testing equipment. The DRBC produced a booklet, “Snapshot: A Report Card on the Health of Delaware River Basin Waterways,” that describes the program and explains water quality terminology. Both the data sheet and booklet can be downloaded from the DRBC’s web site.

Over the past several years, training opportunities also have been offered to interested Snapshot participants by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, the Pocono Environmental Education Center, and Delaware Stream Watch.

In response to very positive feedback, the DRBC has been able to offer a limited number of free, Water Snapshot monitoring kits to interested schools, organizations, and individuals in the Delaware River Basin on a first-come, first-served basis. These custom LaMotte kits use “TesTabs®” to perform simple tests for nitrate, phosphate, pH, dissolved oxygen (10 tests each), and unlimited temperature. Funding for the LaMotte kits, has been provided over the past three years by the William Penn Foundation and the DRBC.

In addition to bringing attention to the need for water quality monitoring, Snapshot also provides much-deserved recognition to the many volunteers from watershed associations and other environmental organizations who participate in water quality monitoring programs throughout the year, not just during Water Snapshot. They certainly deserve appreciation for their dedication and Snapshot participants are encouraged to learn more about these groups and consider joining them (if they are not already members!). The DRBC has a link on its web site to a useful listing of many of these groups.

This year’s Water Snapshot took place from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 28. However, the program was born on September 6, 1995, at a meeting hosted by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and attended by representatives from the DRBC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of Delaware. The purpose of the meeting was to get as many volunteers involved as possible in monitoring basin waterways. At some point this question was raised: “Why not have every monitoring program in the basin, volunteer or not, collect data during the same time period? Bracket it around Earth Day (April 22) as a demonstration of the massive commitment to clean water. It will be a snapshot of the health of the basin’s waters.”

It was a simple but powerful idea.

The first Water Snapshot took place in late-April 1996. Since then, Snapshot has continued under the lead of the DRBC, with input from representatives of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware Estuary Program, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, National Park Service, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pocono Environmental Education Center, Upper Delaware Council, U.S. E.P.A., and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The hope of Snapshot – to create a heightened awareness among participants about their local watersheds, the crucial role they play in all of our lives, and the need for stewardship – is alive and well, as evidenced by these words written by Max Roche, a sixth grade student and Water Snapshot 2002 participant from Wayne-Highlands School District’s Damascus Elementary School in Pennsylvania:

“Our River” by Max Roche

As one of our main water sources, protecting the river is an important environmental role along the mighty Delaware. It can be said that the Delaware is our river of life.Being a good steward is an important part of society. If we’re to live the way we do now, and better, we must protect the river and the important resources that it bears. Having a location at the beginning of the mighty river, my community is an important influence on the other 250 miles south of my community. Stewardship is important not only here, but in every river community.As a student in Water Snapshot, I have been led to believe that as a good steward you need two things: patience and passion. It takes the time and energy of a day’s work to do this job. You must also want to take the time to do this.You can help our river and its basin by cleaning near, in, and around the Delaware watershed, and by trying not to pollute the air and water. This includes substances like smoke and oil.These are only a few of many ideas that I have. In conclusion I feel that if everyone would take five minutes of their time to help this ecosystem, then we could all live better without as many sacrifices as people thought.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is an interstate/federal agency that manages the water resources in the Delaware River Watershed. Its five members include the governors of the four basin states – Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York – and a federal representative appointed by the president.