wonders of water

Hi Everyone,
Happy World Water Day to you! Today is a good opportunity for us to be thankful for the water resources we are blessed with in Alabama and also to remember how important it is to protect and conserve those resources.
I am thankful for people like you who are taking action to protect and conserve our important water resources, and I am thankful for the opportunity to work with you on the Rock Creek Watershed Project. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Here is the link to a short youtube video about water that I thought was interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW5eBfZhE4M

This is slide show about water bottles passed to me by Laverne Matheson that really made me think about bottle water differently!:
http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/AgNatRes/Sustainability/water-disaster.pdf

Also, for World Water Day, National Geographic has dedicated this month's issue to water and made it available for free online. Here is the link:
http://www.natgeofreshwater.com/?of=500204105&bd=1
Have a great day!
Mona

Rock Creek Watershed Management Project Meeting and Bacteria Blitz

Here are a few upcoming activities that I hope will interest you.

•On April 8th, at 7pm at the Traders and Farmers Bank Building in Addison we will have a Rock Creek Watershed Management Project Meeting. We will be presenting a draft of the Rock Creek Watershed Management Plan, and would really appreciate your help with putting on the finishing touches!

•On April 9th, we will be giving a short presentation of the results of the Bacteria Blitz (over 40 sites sampled on February 5-6th) during the WCSLAI Public Meeting

•In addition, on April 10th, at 9am at the Dodge City Restaurant in Cullman, we will be giving a similar presentation about the results of the February Bacteria Blitz during the Smith Lake Environmental Preservation Committee (SLEPC) Spring Meeting.

•We will have our Spring Bacteria Blitz Friday and Saturday, April 9-10th. Testing materials will be provided by the Global Water Watch (GWW) EPA funded Gulf of Mexico Alliance Project.

•We would like to offer Bacteriological and Water Chemistry Monitoring workshops for certification with Alabama Water Watch on Friday April 9th. We need at least 8-10 participants for the each workshop.

If you need more information or are interested in participating in the monitoring workshops or Bacteria Blitz, please contact Mona Scruggs at (251)282-9998.

Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Rock Creek Watershed Meeting and Bacteria Blitz

(Mona Scruggs has written the following post about the last watershed meeting and bacteria testing training. Since WCSLAI helped sponsor this program, I am posting her report here.)

The February 4th, Rock Creek Watershed Management Project meeting was very productive. Quite a few stakeholders participated, despite the terrible weather conditions. During the meeting we reviewed the project goals and also discussed the current progress of the project. Stakeholders provided us with very important information regarding pollution in the Rock Creek Watershed. In addition, we were able to discuss different outreach strategies for getting the greater community involved in the project. All of this valuable information is being processed and we plan on having a draft plan ready within the next month or so.

The Smith Lake Bacteria Blitz and Bacteriological Water Testing Training sessions led by Alabama Water Watch were also successful. Twenty-six volunteers throughout the Smith Lake Watershed were certified as Bacteriological Water Monitors, and about 40 sites were tested for E. coli during the Bacteria Blitz! AWW personnel will report on Blitz results at the upcoming April 9th WCSLAI meeting, and at the April 10th SLEPC meeting.

Thanks to all who helped to organize and participated in these activities!

We are planning another Rock Creek Watershed Meeting as well as Bacteria Blitz for the first part of April. We will keep you posted on dates and times, and hope to see you there!

For more information on this project please contact Mona Scruggs at (251) 282-9998

Public Meeting

Winston County Smith Lake Advocacy, Inc.
April 9, 2010 Public Meeting
6:30 PM, Traders and Farmers Bank meeting room
Double Springs, AL
Agenda


Welcome guests and dignitaries
Nomination of officers and directors for 2010
Review of clean-ups for 2009
Location and date of upcoming April clean-up
Report on the FAWN program
Report on lake water testing blitz done in February
Report on Signs to be placed on creeks
Report on white beaded styrofoam removal

Guests from Alabama Water Watch and Alabama Power Company
Refreshments will be served