Clean Water Campaign


 * The LI Group is working toward a campaign on water issues, including planning and securing funding for a clean water campaign. Part of our local group’s activity means working with the national Sierra Club clean water committee. Phone conferences are held every few months, and the committee is developing resources, starting with a new website: www.stopsewage.org. This brand new resource contains (or will contain) factsheets and toolkits for improving water. We are working to become certified under the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels program.

Goals

 * To develop regional water testing programs for implementation by middle and high school students and teachers, community groups, local governments, and individuals.
 * To develop an accessable database with these water samples.
 * To integrate this database with existing geographic and geologic databases.
 * Start with pilot programs along the Peconic and south eastern Long Island watersheds.

Background Research

 * Existing programs with minor/no overlaps
 * US EPA adopt a watershed partners for LI Sound -mainly disparate efforts
 * http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=02030201
 * Riverkeeper has a private monitoring program with tie-ins to schools that request (but not the water quality sampling we are proposing)
 * http://riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/watershed_education/the_facts/1210
 * Soundwaters- one time monitoring program. Great example of curriculum conscious grant writing for ct.       :::http://www.soundwaters.org/education/middle/coastal/
 * Clearwater www.clearwater.org in-classroom education and onboard (sloop) and resource center- water monitoring onboard,
 * Community Resource Inventory (CRI) Online- sponsored by the Connecticut NEMO program, the site provides comprehensive environmental, cultural, and economic resource data of Connecticut communities. Want to know the amount of tidal wetlands, or the water quality of streams and lakes, in your community? CRI has it.
 * http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/cri/interactive.htm
 * http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/cri/cri_online/00a_start.asp
 * NY Sea Grant (LI SOUND) is NEMO project for NY (and LI info) but no CRI. Supposedly CRI is being expanded to other states but NY is not on the schedule.
 * http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/nemo/article.asp?ArticleID=227


 * Long Island overlaps
 * Adopt-A-School Program - The Long Island Chapter of the New York Water Environment Association expanded its Adopt-A-School Program to the middle schools in the drainage areas of Long Island Sound. The program involved the purchase of videos with workshop manuals and teacher guides from the Water Environment Federation for distribution to middle schools. The videos covered water conservation and wastewater treatment and were distributed to the schools by a chapter member for presentation and discussion. Seventeen schools in Nassau and Suffolk County were adopted.
 * Contact: Ben Wright, Chief Engineer, Division of Sanitation, LI Chapter of the New York Environment Association, c/o Suffolk County Department of Public Works, 335 Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, NY 11980.


 * sSELF- http://www.nysmea.org/sSELF/
 * sSELF Database


 * Very Similar Programs
 * '''Cornell CCE
 * http://www.uwex.edu/ces/csreesvolmon/VolunteerMonPrograms/index.html'''
 * NY State Education resources - drinking water testing
 * http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/rtmss/3.35.html
 * NJ High School Educational Water Monitoring Program -this is the closest to what we are proposing- the info may be public domain
 * http://cimic.rutgers.edu/%7Eproject/epa/monitoringcenter.htm
 * http://cimic.rutgers.edu/%7Ehmdc/njmc.htm
 * Hudson Basin Riverwatch - volunteer and school monitoring for entire hudson river basin, database etc.
 * http://www.hudsonbasin.org/
 * MySound UConn, USEPA and NOAA
 * http://www.mysound.uconn.edu/mys_about.html
 * Has monitoring buoys http://www.mysound.uconn.edu/stationstat.html
 * Project Watershed - volunteer water monitoring for central new york
 * http://projectwatershed.org/?q=node/124


 * Good Resources
 * EPA enviro mapper
 * http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/
 * HOW TO on developing water testing programs
 * http://www.uwex.edu/ces/csreesvolmon/DataReporting/index.html
 * NYS DEC water monitoring info
 * http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8459.html
 * Project watershed - list of some similar resources as ours and testing materials.
 * http://projectwatershed.org/?q=node/124
 * NY state epa registered water monitoring groups
 * http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/volmon.nsf/vst?openview&startkey=New+York&expandview
 * NY State epa registered watershed groups
 * http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/adopt.nsf/by+state?SearchView&Query=New+York
 * Evaluation of Hudson Bap program that has applications to project design
 * http://acwi.gov/monitoring/conference/2006/2006_conference_materials_notes/Concurrent_SessionF/F6VolDta/F6_Clark-Dantzker.pdf
 * USDA
 * http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/water_quality.shtml


 * List of funding sources for watersheds
 * http://efc.boisestate.edu/watershed/

Here on GreenWikia, more information is available at Monitoring_Water_Quality.
 * To work on water issues on LI, contact Jessica: helm_jessica@yahoo.com