Colleen and Al check river water oxygen level

 

 F.O.R. Volunteers to become Texas Stream Team Water Quality Monitors

 

By Colleen Robertson and Al Roco

 

Gayla Stock and Jean Wright of the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) traveled to the San Bernard River on April 5, 2008 to train F.O.R. Members to become Texas Stream Team volunteer water quality monitors.  The F.O.R. Volunteers included Fred Kanter, Andrew Kanter, Colleen Robertson, Vanessa Taylor, Jane Wallace, and Larry Vacek.  Al Roco, who is working toward becoming a certified trainer, assisted with the training.  The training session was held at the F.O.R. Community Center.

 

                       

 

Following an instructional video on the history, purpose, and goals of the Clean Rivers Program and a Texas Stream Team water quality background presentation, the volunteers were introduced to the test kits and schooled on the proper handling of the chemicals used in the tests.  Gayla discussed the methods and protocol for each water quality parameter to be tested, which include conductivity and/or salinity,  temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.  Volunteers learned how to calibrate the conductivity meters, then tested the Community Center tap water for each of the parameters in the first practice round.  Following lunch, the group took the sampling equipment and test kits down to the pier to conduct testing of San Bernard River water.  Gayla and Jean further explained the field observations to be recorded on the monitoring data sheets.  These include information on the river flow and surface conditions, total depth at the site, transparency (as measured with a Secchi disk), water color and clarity, percent algae coverage, present weather conditions, the number of days since the last significant precipitation, as well as the amount of precipitation in the last three days.  They also reminded volunteers that the test kits and sample water, drawn from the river in buckets, should be taken to a shaded area to avoid skewing the data.  Testing revealed the water at the pier was fresh and the dissolved oxygen level was very good for support of aquatic organisms.

 

Additional F.O.R. Volunteers, including Marie Breakiron, Jan and Roy Edwards and Darrell and Gloria Powell, are scheduled to participate in a training session to be held on June 7 at Challenger Park in Webster.  Bruce Barner, Emily Myers and George Zwicker have also expressed interest in attending the water quality training and monitoring the river.

 

Gayla will return to the San Bernard River at a future date for a final testing and certification of the F.O.R. Volunteer Water Quality Monitors.  In the meantime, the volunteers are tasked with choosing sampling sites and marking them on a map for the H-GAC and Texas Stream Team program.  Gayla will visit each site and each will be assigned a station ID number.  It is hoped the sites can be evenly distributed in the tidal zone of the river.

 

Special thanks go to Gayla and Jean for sharing their Saturday with us and for their patience.  Thanks also go to F.O.R. for providing the scrumptious lunch that was prepared by Dido’s and delivered by Nancy Kanter, a true F.O.R. Angel.