COC Student Begins River Monitoring Project

Several years ago the State Department of Water Resources began a project to collect data on the quality of surface water throughout the state. Realizing that it would be far too expensive to send state employees out to do sampling, a program was designed that would promote "Citizen Monitors". Volunteers who wished to monitor their local watersheds would able to attend a training program to learn data collection techniques. After certification, they collect data and submit it to the local Regional Water Quality Control Board. Their collected data is periodically checked to ensure accuracy.

The Friends of the Santa Clara River was the first nonprofit to begin a Citizen Monitoring Program on the Santa Clara River. Now, thanks to Jakub Gawranski, SCOPE may have a monitor too!

Jakub, who is a student at the College of the Canyons, recently attended a workshop in "Biological Assessment Techniques" given by the Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game and the American Fisheries Society. He learned how to collect data about the river ecosystem. This is different than the Friends of the River monitoring program where only water quality data is collected.