WORLD WATER DAY: WHO PROTECTS YOUR WATER?
This Friday, March 22nd, as you shower, do laundry, or just enjoy a glass of cold water, take a moment to consider how fortunate we are to have an ample supply of safe, clean water.
That’s the objective of World Water Day – a day observed worldwide each year to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to promote sustainable management of freshwater resources.
While water may be taken for granted by many, it’s a priority for South Nation Conservation. SNC’s compliment of professional staff, with expertise in water resources, conduct a number of science-based programs and activities that monitor the quantity and quality of water and track long-term changes to ensure a safe supply of clean water.
Ongoing monitoring programs play an essential role in providing information needed to establish baseline conditions of a river system, and to track any changes that might be caused by environmental or human factors. During the ice-free months, SNC staff collect water samples at 13 river stations throughout the South Nation watershed.
The insects, worms, and other animals that live at the bottom of a stream are also useful indicators of the health of the stream. Each year, SNC collects information from approximately 20 different sites throughout its jurisdiction.
Another monitoring program collects information on groundwater quantity and quality from 18 test wells throughout the jurisdiction. This information is critical given recent low water conditions in the past year. “By the end of August, groundwater levels in many of our monitoring wells were the lowest recorded in the history of the program” noted SNC’s hydrogeologist, Tessa Di Iorio.
The public can also get involved through SNC’s River Watch Program, currently 20 volunteers, armed with supplied water chemistry kits, sample local streams and rivers and report the results to SNC.
Data collected from the various monitoring programs is released through numerous reports, including a Watershed Report Card. Staff are currently reviewing data from the previous monitoring season and preparing 2012 reports that will be available later this year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION – Sandra Mancini, Team Lead, Water Resources, SNC, 877-984-2948, Ext. 223
SMancini@nation.on.ca