Water pollution affects us all. Although there are no easy remedies, correcting water pollution depends on a future generation of informed, concerned citizens. We invite concerned people like you to take an active role in assuring the well-being of your communities' water resources. Adopt-A-Stream is an educational volunteer water quality monitoring program designed to help you, help young people, help your local waterway. Groups supported by local cosponsors (civic organizations, sportsmen's clubs or service clubs) agree to observe or evaluate their adopted waterway and take action together to improve their lake, stream, pond, or wetland.
Participating school, youth, or community groups get started by purchasing a copy of the Adopt-A-Stream guide that is appropriate for the group. The guides direct the group through all the steps in "adopting" a waterway. The name Adopt-A-Stream is a bit of a misnomer, as there is extensive information on lake monitoring also. The guides contain detailed instructions for a variety of tests that can be carried out by participants as well as extensive resource material and chapters on safety, sampling, data evaluation, and ideas on what actions may be taken.
The program is flexible. The tests that you select depend on your goals and the issues affecting the water body. While you may want to jump right in and start sampling, it is helpful to design your water quality study to answer specific questions such as: are there activities that threaten the classified uses of the water such as erosion and sedimentation, excess nutrients causing the growth of nuisance plants and algae, or sewage discharges causing bacterial contamination?
With the help of their cosponsors, students begin by obtaining maps and gathering pertinent information about their adopted waterway. They can learn the location of access points, the current state-established water quality rating and the criteria for that rating, the occurrence and location of effluent discharges, etc.
With this preliminary information in hand, the group visits their waterway to record observations and take samples. Some of the activities that can be done include a physical examination of the waterway, a determination of water level and flow, and an assessment of the water and shoreline's aesthetic appearance. Water temperature, pH, color, turbidity, and other factors can be measured, and a water sample taken for microbiological assays. Since water quality affects the abundance, species composition, stability, and productivity of aquatic communities, students can also examine these plants and animals as indicators of the environmental health of their waterway.
All results and student observations are compiled into a written report. A summary can be presented to the public through a news release and/or an oral presentation to the cosponsoring organization. Delta Labs urges each community to use these findings to further the protection and enhancement of its waterway by actions such as removing shoreline trash, reducing pollution, educating the community, providing picnic and recreation areas, and improving the aquatic habitat.
