Local community members have a unique opportunity to dive into environmental science this summer by joining the newly launched Lower Esopus Community Stream Monitoring Program.
Co-led by Hudsonia and Manhattan University, in collaboration with Riverkeeper and local community groups, this program will train volunteers to collect meaningful biological, chemical, and physical data along the Lower Esopus stream corridor.
The data collected by volunteers will help inform stream restoration and protection efforts, while establishing a crucial, long-term dataset to track water quality trends throughout the Lower Esopus watershed.
Starting this July, community members can give hands-on help through two main monitoring efforts:
Biological Monitoring: Conducted every summer, volunteers will assist with habitat assessments and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling to gauge stream health.
Chemical Monitoring: In addition to automated sensors that will track data continuously, volunteers will gather monthly water chemistry samples. Parameters will include temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, nutrients, chloride, and E. coli.
The resulting data will be managed by Hudsonia and Manhattan University, uploaded to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WQX database, and shared with the public through online reports and public presentations.
A recording of the introductory information session and the biological monitoring training are available to watch. Those interested in volunteering can fill out a general interest form and sign up for biological sampling.
Reach out to Kristi MacDonald at Hudsonia with questions, kmacdonald@bard.edu.
