Darci Zolman of the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District explains one of several types of testing volunteers can conduct through the Hoosier Riverwatch program. Participants learned how to determine the amount of dissolved oxygen in water, the presence of phosphates and bacteria and more. Photo provided by Jennifer Romano.

Press Release

NORTH WEBSTER — Despite record-setting heat and a particularly damaging storm that heavily impacted the Upper Tippecanoe River Watershed, volunteers gathered on June 15 for the annual Hoosier Riverwatch training presented by The Watershed Foundation and the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District.

The training was led by Lyn Crighton, executive director of The Watershed Foundation, and Darci Zolman of the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Conducting a variety of experiments with drops of water, volunteers became citizen scientists as they learned to assess stream water quality, conducted testing for a wide variety of possible pollutants and learned to submit the data they collected into a statewide volunteer monitoring database.

Hoosier Riverwatch, sponsored by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, is a statewide education program that focuses on local lake, river and stream stewardship. To date, more than 5,000 people have participated. There is no charge for the annual training.

Shown are Lily Crighton, left, of North Webster, a freshman at Indiana University-South Bend, and Treyton Martin of Nappanee, a sophomore at Yale University, observing the results of testing they conducted on a water sample. Participants learned proper testing protocol so they can become citizen volunteers, gathering water samples across the state. Photo provided by Jennifer Romano.

In all, 12 people participated in this year’s training.

Crighton believes the Hoosier Riverwatch training program is essential.

“Protecting and monitoring our water quality is critical to the future of the lakes and streams in our watershed. Passionate volunteers who care about our watershed and the environment provide a necessary link to information we need,” said Crighton.

“In partnership with our volunteers, we are able to collect more data and learn so much more about the health of our water. Once they’ve been trained, our volunteers discover that this is not only interesting, but they also discover a sense of pride in taking a hands-on role in helping the environment.”

To learn more about Hoosier Riverwatch, visit hoosierriverwatch.com. There, you can find water quality data collected by program graduates and to discover where monitoring has taken place. For more information about The Watershed Foundation and the 25 years of action the organization has taken to protect and preserve water quality in the Upper Tippecanoe River Watershed, visit watershedfoundation.org.

Additional training will be offered this year by the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, at the Washington STEM Academy in Warsaw.

For more information or to register, contact Darci Zolman at [email protected] or (574) 267-7445, ext. 5374.