Join a Stream Team!
Dive into a clean water project
s
J3
V

<*.
%
LL
c:
T
Clean your room! And take out
the trash and the recycling/
For many teens, these are
among the most annoying sentences
they hear. Why can't you 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 ev-
eryone can spend more time relaxing
in a cleaner, tidier home. Clean beats
filthy and relaxing beats working just
about every time.
Streams, lakes, ponds, and
wetlands 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 be fun? 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
associations, schools, or local
environmental organizations. There
are many different 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
programs 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
specimens 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
^ PRO^°
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.

-------
4H
1 Let's
Go
Surfing
Now!
Learn what you can
do for your watershed
http: //wate r.epa.gov/
action/adopt
EPA has developed a list of 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!
SP o> ~
Give water a hand
The University of Wisconsin can
help you choose a great water
project for you and your class-
mates. Check out their "Water
Action Volunteers" web site
(http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/
wav) for tips on how to
*	Investigate water problems
*	Choose a great project
*	Plan your activities
*	Put your plans into action
*	Celebrate your success
Several national organiza-
tions can help students build a
"dream team" of clean-up volun-
teers. Coordinating 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 Amer-
ican Outdoors the second or third
week in May) can help generate and
maintain enthusiasm and team spir-
it. 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 wet-
land 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 wildflowers.
It's easy, and your efforts will help
nature control soil erosion, reduce
sediment in streams, conserve water,
and improve water quality.
Career
Corner**^}
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?
Heligrammite
Beetle Larva
Aquatic Worm
Mayfly
Storiefiy
SENSITIVE
Damseifly
IliyiEMIT
1IH11
Midge
Leech
TOLEMNT

-------