AWWareness – The Official Newsletter of Alabama Water Watch

March 16, 2020April 6, 2020

AWW Office COVID-19 Update

As part of Auburn University’s precautionary measures amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Alabama Water Watch Program Office closed on March 16, at 5 pm. The current plan is for the office to reopen on May 9^th, and we will provide updates as possible.

All Alabama Water Watch related programs and workshops during this time period are postponed. Please visit the AWW website for details regarding specific events. AWW will continue to go about daily operations during the closure as AWW Staff will be working remotely during this time.

4/6/2020 – Governor Ivey issued a Stay-At-Home Order that went into effect on Saturday, April 4th. Therefore, in addition to taking into consideration your personal health and safety, please review the Order (see link below) as you determine whether or not it is in your best interest to conduct water monitoring.

https://governor.alabama.gov/assets/2020/04/Final-Statewide-Order-4.3.2020.pdf

Also, be aware that many public recreation areas are now closed to the public. The Alabama State Parks and National Forests of Alabama have listed current closings on their websites. Check with local officials about any parks or recreational areas in your communities.

USDA Forest Service Closed Areas: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/alabama/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD716412

AL State Parks Info: https://www.outdooralabama.com/COVID-19?fbclid=IwAR273aZnuIt6vsulZ-1k02zkl1EZh

To read about general safety recommendations and other concerns related to COVID-19 and water monitoring, please see this additional article, COVID-19 Water Monitoring Concerns.

April 15, 2019April 15, 2019

AWW Tiger Giving Project, Protect Alabama Waterways, Mini-grant Program

WE ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING APPLICATIONS FOR THE AWW TIGER GIVING PROJECT MINI-GRANT PROGRAM!! CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE APPLICATION.

If you are a certified AWW monitor and need some help to get started monitoring at an orphaned site or a new site, in the form of a water chemistry test kit, water chemistry reagents to refill an existing kit, or bacteria supplies, this mini-grant program is for you!

Continue reading “AWW Tiger Giving Project, Protect Alabama Waterways, Mini-grant Program”

March 27, 2020

COVID-19 Water Monitoring Concerns

Several monitors have asked if they should continue monitoring their sites amid the COVID-19 outbreak. As we know, anytime you participate in water-based activities there are risks for injury and sickness. AWW does its best to provide volunteers with guidance that will hopefully prevent such issues. In an effort to include the newest threats to health, we have reviewed the current information provided by the CDC related to Water Transmission and COVID-19.

March 23, 2020April 2, 2020

New 4-H Alabama Water Watch Project: Exploring Pathogen Pollution in Our Waters

Are you an educator, or do you know of an educator who would like to engage your students with citizen science and watershed stewardship? We are currently recruiting educators from coastal counties to help us pilot the new 4-H AWW Project “Exploring Pathogen Pollution in Our Waters.”

March 18, 2020

Announcing: 2020 Alabama Rivers Educator Workshops!

Join us for the second year of the Alabama Rivers Educators Workshops!

This year, thanks to support from MidSouth RC&D, we are excited to host a series of three workshops at the Lee County Historical Society’s Pioneer Park in Loachapoka, AL (about 15 minutes west of Auburn).

These workshops are ideal for educators, outreach specialists, classroom teachers, and volunteers who work with 4th-12th grades, however lessons are adaptable for other grade levels and subjects.

March 6, 2020

USFS CitSci Project Workshops

We have wrapped up our final USFS CitSci Project Workshop for 2020!

AWW and the National Forests in Alabama held three water quality monitoring workshops in the Bankhead, Tuskegee , and Conecuh National Forests. We would like to thank everyone who attended these workshops, and especially all of the the project participants who have picked up sites to monitor!

Tuskegee National Forest workshop participants braving the rain and cold!

March 5, 2020March 23, 2020

How To: Confirm if your data record was submitted successfully to AWW when entering data online.

We have recently had a few volunteers who have entered data online, but have not seen their data on the Data from Tables or Data from Maps. This could be because it was not submitted successfully into the AWW Server. We want to help you ensure that you have successfully submitted your data to AWW. Follow the steps below to learn how to check if we received your data!