(4/14) On April 13, the Watershed Alliance of Adams County held its annual meeting at the Adams County Agricultural and Natural Resources Center in Gettysburg.
The Watershed Alliance of Adams County is an alliance of organizations working to preserve and enhance the cultural and natural assets of the South Mountain Landscape in Adams County. The main goal of the Alliance is to generate community involvement and education of the public on environmental efforts and resources. One of the principle missions of the Alliance is to monitor local streams to ensure continued safe recreation and clean drinking water to Adams County residents and downstream communities.
This year’s meeting featured a presentation on the Watershed Alliance’s water-borne pathogen-testing program. While most people know it can be unsafe to drink unfiltered water out of a stream or lake, even if the water is visibly clear, they may not know that wading, swimming, fishing, and playing in contaminated water can also cause illness, said Alliance President Pat Naugle.
Thanks to a grant from the South Mountain Partnership, the Watershed Alliance is launching a water-testing program aimed at determining where Adams County’s waters may be contaminated by dangerous pathogens, so that the public can make informed decisions about where to recreate in local waters, and in hopes that the findings will inform future water-quality improvement efforts, according to Communications Chair Chris Little. As part of this mission the Alliance will be testing approximately 30 sites to inform the public about where local waters may be contaminated.
At its meeting, the Alliance asked for community suggestions on where water testing should take place throughout the community. "We want to test where people are in the water," including recreation spots, Alliance President Pat Naugle said.
Each location will get sampled five times in 30 days and volunteers are needed during the testing time of approximately five weeks in August, for as little or as much time as they can give. The average time for a location testing is a half hour a day once a week.
The pathogen-testing project was financed in part by a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, under the administration of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.
Over the years, the Alliance has participated in multiple projects focused on enhancing the environment, including the Middle Creek Assessment Project that, in partnership with Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve studied the health of the Middle Creek Watershed.
Also, thanks to the dedication of their all-volunteer organization, the Alliance is able to provide free trees to the community twice a year. In April, the alliance distributed more than 9,000 trees over three days to 320 happy recipients. Planting trees and shrubs near waterways is particularly effective against stormwater runoff.
Alliance members participate in regular field trips, clean ups, and tours around the county highlighting environmental aspects and provides fun activities for kids to inspire a new generation of environmental stewards. For more information about the Watershed Alliance visit AdamsWatersheds.org.
