Community Water Monitoring Training Sessions
Streamkeepers at Brooklyn Creek, 1996
Map of Location
Comox Bay Farm
Comox Bay Farm
Date and Time
September 18, 1 – 2:30 pm (full)
September 19, 6 – 7:30 pm
Location
Comox Bay Farm – corner of 10th and Williams Rd
Description
Do you want to explore your local watersheds while gathering valuable data to support research and decision-making? Volunteers are needed to monitor water quality in fall 2024 in the following watersheds:
- Mallard Creek (lead by Project Watershed)
- Glen Urquhart Creek (lead by Project Watershed)
- Tsolum River (lead by Tsolum River Restoration Society)
- Millard Creek and Piercy Creek (lead by Millard-Piercy Watershed Stewards)
- Note: other watersheds may be added to this list – stay tuned!
Through this program, you’ll learn:
- How to operate equipment (water quality multiparameter meters) to measure various water quality parameters
- How different water quality parameters relate to stream health
- More about your local streams and watersheds by walking through them, rain or shine!
Two initial training sessions will be offered that will introduce volunteers to the program and demonstrate the use of water monitoring equipment in the field. Training sessions will take place at Glen Urquhart Creek (Comox Bay Farm, meet at the corner of 10th St E and Williams Rd) and will be offered in the afternoon of September 18 (1:00-2:30 pm) and the evening of September 19 (6:00-7:30 pm).
We ask that volunteers:
- *Attend one training session and commit to conducting water quality monitoring in one of the watersheds once per week over a 5-week period, ideally on the same day each week (exact dates and locations TBD).
- Are eager to learn about stream water quality monitoring (previous knowledge is an asset but not required).
- Are 16+ years old (10+ if accompanied by an adult).
- Have the physical ability and appropriate footwear to navigate uneven and wet/slippery terrain with moderate to steep slopes, and to reach into streams to collect measurements.
- (Optional) join with a friend to support learning and complete surveys together.
Please don’t hesitate to connect with us if you are excited to participate but face barriers meeting these requirements.
Training materials and monitoring equipment will be provided. Jay Baker-French and Casey Doucet will be leading this program.
* Water quality monitoring requires specialized training and must be conducted within specific timelines (once per week for 5 consecutive weeks within a 30-day period). Given this, we ask volunteers to participate in as many monitoring events as possible following the training session (ideally all 5).