September Meeting Minutes
Posted: 18 Sep 2009 01:24 PM PDT
The Winston County Natural Resources Council met on Thursday, September 17, at the U. S. Forest Service Office in Double Springs. The following members were present: Allison Cochran (serving as the Chairperson and Secretary), LaVerne Matheson, James Burnett, John Creed, and Jim Hughes.The following topics were discussed:-FAWN program - No changes needed.-FAWN transportation - $1000 to be provided by the County Commission-FAWN walk-thru on Wednesday, Oct 14 @ 9AM-Alabama Natural Resource Council of the Year Award - $1200 to be presented to the WCNRC at the Cullman County Field Day.-Suggestion by members present that Mike collect names of our folks attending the Field Day & call and register for us.-National Public Lands Day - Bankhead - Saturday, Sept 26. Council approved donating $100 for food if it is needed - Wait & see.-October 24 - Winston Co. Smith Lake Advocacy is having a Slough Clean-up. Private boats are needed to clean-up all Winston Co. sloughs. Bags & dumpsters will be at 4 locations TBD.-Alabama Water Watch/AU submitted the 319 planning grant for Rock & Crooked Creeks.-Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Inc. is installing signs on the lake at each tributary with the trib/creek name on it.Note: Thanks to Allison for chairing this meeting during the officers' absence.
September Meeting Minutes
Posted: 18 Sep 2009 01:24 PM PDT
The Winston County Natural Resources Council met on Thursday, September 17, at the U. S. Forest Service Office in Double Springs. The following members were present: Allison Cochran (serving as the Chairperson and Secretary), LaVerne Matheson, James Burnett, John Creed, and Jim Hughes.The following topics were discussed:-FAWN program - No changes needed.-FAWN transportation - $1000 to be provided by the County Commission-FAWN walk-thru on Wednesday, Oct 14 @ 9AM-Alabama Natural Resource Council of the Year Award - $1200 to be presented to the WCNRC at the Cullman County Field Day.-Suggestion by members present that Mike collect names of our folks attending the Field Day & call and register for us.-National Public Lands Day - Bankhead - Saturday, Sept 26. Council approved donating $100 for food if it is needed - Wait & see.-October 24 - Winston Co. Smith Lake Advocacy is having a Slough Clean-up. Private boats are needed to clean-up all Winston Co. sloughs. Bags & dumpsters will be at 4 locations TBD.-Alabama Water Watch/AU submitted the 319 planning grant for Rock & Crooked Creeks.-Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy Inc. is installing signs on the lake at each tributary with the trib/creek name on it.Note: Thanks to Allison for chairing this meeting during the officers' absence.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
water testing class
Training in Arley yields four new trainers for Alabama Water Watch
by Eric Reutebuch, AWW Publications Coordinator
Dr. Bill Deutsch and Sergio Ruiz-Cordova traveled to Arley, Alabama to train a group of Alabama Water Watch-certified volunteer monitors to become AWW trainers Saturday, September 12th. The AWW Training of Trainers Workshop was held at the Meek High School in Arley. The AWW Program has been training citizens throughout the state to test the water quality of their local streams, rivers, lakes, bays and bayous since 1993. Bill quickly realized that the exponential growth in volunteer monitors could not be sustained with just a couple of AWW trainers, and developed the Training of Trainer Workshop in 1995. Currently, the AWW Program has about 40 trainers statewide, and AWW-certified volunteer trainers conducted about 2/3rds of trainings within the past year. Since 1993, over 5,000 Alabamian have been certified as AWW water monitors.
The ranks of AWW trainers gained four new recruits at the Arley training, and two veteran trainers went through the Trainer Refresher Workshop. The workshop participants came from the Black Warrior, Coosa and Tennessee River basins, and represented five AWW monitor groups (listed below). New trainees included:
9 John Kulbitkas representing Smith Lake Civic Association
9 Larry Barkey representing Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy, Inc.
9 James Mason representing Huntsville Senior Environment Corps
9 Loretta Weninegar representing Columbia High School in Huntsville, AL
Trainers that got refreshed included:
9 Ray O'Donnell representing RSVP/Marshall County
9 Isabella Trussell representing Logan Martin Lake Protection Association
Bill opened the workshop with an overview of AWW Program trends. He then reviewed the Executive Summary of the 2008 AWW Annual Report, and lead a discussion "Thinking about AWW in the Big Picture", touching on comparative advantages of AWW monitoring, maintaining quality citizen water data, interpretation of the citizen data, better use of the data, and AWW success stories and local initiatives.
Other topics of discussion included volunteer monitor group dynamics, levels of AWW certification, role of the Alabama Water Watch Association, what is involved in becoming a trainer, planning an AWW workshop, preparing for a workshop, conducting a workshop, and following up after a workshop.
Special thanks to Ms. Susette Rohde, the Meek High School science teacher who assisted with training logistics and provided delicious home-made treats for the participants! To locate an AWW trainer near you and request a training workshop, go to the AWW website at www.alabamawaterwatch.org and click on the Monitor Resources menu, or call the AWW toll-free number at (888) 844-4785. And the next time that you’re out cruising on a beautiful lake, paddling down a picturesque stream, or fishing in a productive bayou, remember to shout out a big “Thank You!” to the selfless volunteer trainers – like John, Larry, James Loretta, Ray and Isabella, and the volunteer monitors who give hundreds of hours of their time to watch over and protect the rich aquatic resources of our State.
by Eric Reutebuch, AWW Publications Coordinator
Dr. Bill Deutsch and Sergio Ruiz-Cordova traveled to Arley, Alabama to train a group of Alabama Water Watch-certified volunteer monitors to become AWW trainers Saturday, September 12th. The AWW Training of Trainers Workshop was held at the Meek High School in Arley. The AWW Program has been training citizens throughout the state to test the water quality of their local streams, rivers, lakes, bays and bayous since 1993. Bill quickly realized that the exponential growth in volunteer monitors could not be sustained with just a couple of AWW trainers, and developed the Training of Trainer Workshop in 1995. Currently, the AWW Program has about 40 trainers statewide, and AWW-certified volunteer trainers conducted about 2/3rds of trainings within the past year. Since 1993, over 5,000 Alabamian have been certified as AWW water monitors.
The ranks of AWW trainers gained four new recruits at the Arley training, and two veteran trainers went through the Trainer Refresher Workshop. The workshop participants came from the Black Warrior, Coosa and Tennessee River basins, and represented five AWW monitor groups (listed below). New trainees included:
9 John Kulbitkas representing Smith Lake Civic Association
9 Larry Barkey representing Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy, Inc.
9 James Mason representing Huntsville Senior Environment Corps
9 Loretta Weninegar representing Columbia High School in Huntsville, AL
Trainers that got refreshed included:
9 Ray O'Donnell representing RSVP/Marshall County
9 Isabella Trussell representing Logan Martin Lake Protection Association
Bill opened the workshop with an overview of AWW Program trends. He then reviewed the Executive Summary of the 2008 AWW Annual Report, and lead a discussion "Thinking about AWW in the Big Picture", touching on comparative advantages of AWW monitoring, maintaining quality citizen water data, interpretation of the citizen data, better use of the data, and AWW success stories and local initiatives.
Other topics of discussion included volunteer monitor group dynamics, levels of AWW certification, role of the Alabama Water Watch Association, what is involved in becoming a trainer, planning an AWW workshop, preparing for a workshop, conducting a workshop, and following up after a workshop.
Special thanks to Ms. Susette Rohde, the Meek High School science teacher who assisted with training logistics and provided delicious home-made treats for the participants! To locate an AWW trainer near you and request a training workshop, go to the AWW website at www.alabamawaterwatch.org and click on the Monitor Resources menu, or call the AWW toll-free number at (888) 844-4785. And the next time that you’re out cruising on a beautiful lake, paddling down a picturesque stream, or fishing in a productive bayou, remember to shout out a big “Thank You!” to the selfless volunteer trainers – like John, Larry, James Loretta, Ray and Isabella, and the volunteer monitors who give hundreds of hours of their time to watch over and protect the rich aquatic resources of our State.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Advocacy Board Meeting Sept. 9th
we had a very productive meeting and today I will comment only on a few Items discussed and voted on.
1- Alabama Water Watch would like to have more e-coli testing on Smith Lake.
2-Advocacy will particapate at Fawn this year, explaining how and why water is tested on Smith Lake. Last year there were approximately, 300, 5th grade students, during 2 days of workshops.
3-We are planning to put up signs on all the different tributaries on Smith Lake in Winston County. This will allow you to tell a friend where you live and he can come to your house. This will allow strangers to boat on Smith Lake, know where they are on the lake and not get lost.
4-There will be a slough cleanup in Winston County on Saturday October 24th. Alabama power is furnishing all bags for this cleanup. There will be dumpsters at several locations "undecided yet". There will be a notice later telling where the dumsters will be and where to pick up the bags. Boy Scouts can recieve badges for helping with Smith Lake Cleanups. We need your boat, if you don't have a boat, we still need your help. For more information 256-747-4422
1- Alabama Water Watch would like to have more e-coli testing on Smith Lake.
2-Advocacy will particapate at Fawn this year, explaining how and why water is tested on Smith Lake. Last year there were approximately, 300, 5th grade students, during 2 days of workshops.
3-We are planning to put up signs on all the different tributaries on Smith Lake in Winston County. This will allow you to tell a friend where you live and he can come to your house. This will allow strangers to boat on Smith Lake, know where they are on the lake and not get lost.
4-There will be a slough cleanup in Winston County on Saturday October 24th. Alabama power is furnishing all bags for this cleanup. There will be dumpsters at several locations "undecided yet". There will be a notice later telling where the dumsters will be and where to pick up the bags. Boy Scouts can recieve badges for helping with Smith Lake Cleanups. We need your boat, if you don't have a boat, we still need your help. For more information 256-747-4422
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