Join a Stream Team!
Dive into a clean water project
C/eaw your room! And take out
the trash and the recycling!
For many teens, these are
among the most annoying sentences
they hear. Why can 'tyou do it your-
self? Buffy is on! For many parents,
these are among the most annoying
sentences they hear.
Why don't parents do it them-
selves? Well, when everyone lends a
hand, chores get done faster and
everyone can spend more time relax-
ing in a cleaner, tidier home. Clean
beats filthy and relaxing beats working
just about every time.
Streams, lakes, ponds, and wet-
lands need a break, too. Do you enjoy
going to the beach, Whitewater rafting,
or fishing in your favorite lake? You
and your friends can lend a hand to
help keep the water resources we use
and enjoy running clean and clear by
volunteering your time and talents in a
water project. Will I really help the
environment? You bet! Will it bejun?
Definitely! Will this make the most
popular kid at school? Um...we'll get
back to you on that one (but we know
you'll be popular with some very cool
fish).
Are There Many Programs to
Get Involved In?
The answer is a definite yes!
Every year new volunteer programs
are formed across the country. Some
have thousands of volunteers; many,
however, are small and often are
linked with neighborhood associa-
tions, schools, or local environmental
organizations. There are many differ-
ent ways to get involved.
Become a Volunteer Monitor!
Volunteer monitors are people
who measure the water quality of
lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, and
other bodies of water. In most pro-
grams they take water samples and
either send them to a laboratory or
analyze the water themselves using
portable water quality test kits.
People who monitor streams also
sometimes examine insect life living
on the stream bottom. Using special
nets, they count and sort the speci-
mens they collect. Some aquatic
insects cannot tolerate pollution.
They will leave the area as fast as
they can (or croak) when things turn
bad. So, if stream monitors find an
abundant amount of "clean water"
insects, they feel pretty good about
the water quality of their stream.
Today nearly 2,800 ponds, lakes,
and wetlands and about 1,000
streams and rivers in the United
States are monitored by volunteers.
Most monitoring programs welcome
middle and high school students.
Instructors show you how to use
monitoring equipment and provide
reporting forms and other supplies.
Getting your feet wet is easy and fun,
and the information you collect helps
people understand water resources
and what needs to be done to keep
them clean.
Join a Beach, Stream, or
Lake Clean-up Campaign!
Another activity that can use the
help of you and your friends is clean-
up campaigns. Typically, teams are
organized to pick up and remove
trash and debris from a section of
stream, beach, wetland, or lakeshore.
The cleanup can be a onetime activity
or, better yet, an ongoing project
where the team "adopts" an area and
visits it regularly.
These volunteer monitors are collecting water samples from
a small stream.
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Let's
Go
—j Surfing
Now!
Learn what you can
do for your watershed
www.epa.gov/students/
surf_your_watershed.htm
EPA has developed a list of 15
things you can do to make a
difference in your watershed.
Check out the information on:
• Adopting your watershed
• Volunteer monitoring
• Clean-up campaigns
• Building backyard habitat
Let's Get
Our Boots
Muddy!
Give water a hand
The University of Wisconsin
can help you choose a great
water project for you and your
classmates. Download the
Action Guide from their web
site: www.uwex.edu/erc/
index.html. It will give you tips
on how to
* Investigate water problems
* Choose a great project
* Plan your activities
* Put your plans into action
* Celebrate your success
Several national organizations
can help students build a "dream
team" of clean-up volunteers. Coor-
dinating your efforts with recognized
campaigns like the International
Coastal Cleanup (sponsored by the
Center for Marine Conservation on
the third Saturday in September) or
the National River Cleanup Week
(sponsored by American Outdoors
the second or third week in May) can
help generate and maintain enthusi-
asm and team spirit. The first thing to
do is to learn about the groups
already active in your watershed and
join in!
Set Up Your Own Backyard
Conservation Area!
You can do environmental won-
ders with just a little land and some
imagination. A small neglected
wetland can become a bird and
butterfly paradise. A backyard corner
can be transformed into a mulch
factory. A muddy, trampled bare patch
can be turned into a canvas of wild-
flowers. It's easy, and your efforts will
help nature control soil erosion, reduce
sediment in streams, conserve water,
and improve water quality.
Career
A volunteer monitoring
coordinator develops a monitoring
program, gathers volunteers, and
helps to monitor the health of streams.
A biochemist studies the chemistry of
living organisms.
An entomologist studies insects and
their environment.
In 1998, 300,000 volunteers picked
up more than 40,000 cigarette butts
in coastal waterways (nearly 20
percent of all the trash picked up)
in the annual International Coastal
Cleanup.
What's Buggin'You?
Hellgrammite
Beetle Larva
Aquatic Worm
Midge
Stonefly
Leech
SENSITIVE
SOMEWHAT
SENSITIVE
TOLERANT
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