Silver City Watershed Keepers Stream Stewardship Workshop August 28
The Silver City Watershed Keepers (SCWK) will kick off its Adopt-A-Stream Program with a Stream Stewardship Workshop on Saturday, August 28th from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Big Ditch Park. The Adopt-A-Stream program empowers citizens to steward our waterways by monitoring environmental quality of streams, cleaning up litter, and restoring riparian areas. The Stream Stewardship Workshop will train participants in environmental quality monitoring of the watershed with an easy-to-use app that can be accessed on a smartphone.
Pollution from stormwater runoff, litter and illegal dumping, streambank erosion and non-native vegetation all threaten the health of the Silver City watershed. These problems affect our water resources, trails and open spaces, riparian ecosystems and wildlife.
“By becoming a stream steward and adopting a stream, participants can help identify problems so that we can keep our waterways clean and healthy. Individuals and organizations can play an important role in protecting San Vicente Creek and its tributaries,” said Silver City Watershed Keepers coordinator Leigh Jenkins.
At the Stream Stewardship Workshop, participants will learn how to become stewards of the Silver City watershed by adopting a stream segment along San Vicente, Silva or Pinos Altos creeks. In addition, participants will be trained to use the new Silver City Watershed Keepers Reporter app created by Nichole Bouvet, a Watershed Keepers summer intern from Western New Mexico University. Nichole is a rising senior pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Forest/Wildlife and a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
“Nichole has designed a user-friendly app for tracking and reporting issues that negatively impact the watershed. This will be a useful tool for helping to monitor the environmental quality of the watershed,” said Jenkins.
The Silver City Watershed Keepers Reporter app will help stewards report litter and illegal dumping, trail and streambank erosion, illegal motorized vehicle use, and other watershed issues that pose an environmental, health or safety risk. The data will help facilitate resolution of watershed threats in order to protect watershed health.
The workshop will take place outside in Big Ditch Park between 6th Street and Kelly Street. Join us for bagels and coffee, meet other stream stewards, and find out more about how you can get involved in protecting our watershed! Participants should bring their smartphone to learn how to use the Silver City Watershed Keepers Reporter app. A couple laptops will be available for those without a smartphone. Although we’ll have a shade canopy set up, participants should also bring a hat and sunscreen. We’ll be following COVID-safe practices: social distancing is required and facemasks are optional since the event is outdoors.
Coordinated by the Gila Resources Information Project, the Silver City Watershed Keepers program is a citizens’ water resources stewardship program that engages community members in protection and restoration of the Silver City Watershed.
For more information, contact Leigh Jenkins at (304) 268-6215 or silvercitywatershedkeepers@gmail.com.
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