Great Swamp Watershed Association - Visual Assessment Training

More Stream Visual Assessment Training Is Offered By GSWA

You would be surprised to know that a great deal of useful monitoring can be done by merely observing streams and waterways and taking detailed notes on what you see.

The main reason for a visual assessment program is to get more eyes watching our streams and rivers to see what is going on. Even simple information, such as stream depth, width, as well as the location of pools and riffles can be helpful. What wildlife is observable? What plants? Is the water surface covered with algae or a film? What shape are the stream banks in? Are there trees over hanging the water? And, of course, visual assessment team members can be the first to discover pollutants or man-made hazards in our waterways.

People with a desire to get out, explore the natural beauties of the Great Swamp Watershed and aid in a good cause all at the same time, may be interested in volunteering to help conduct Visual Assessments of Stream Reaches in the Great Swamp Watershed. You don't need to be a trained scientist or have a PhD. All you need is a sharp eye and the ability to collect data. The Great Swamp Watershed Association, located on Tempe Wick Road in Harding Township, will provide the necessary training.

The main purpose of this program is to help gather data for the Watershed Association on water bodies that are currently not being assessed by the staff of the NJDEP. This important data can be used in several ways. At the local level it provides valuable information to municipalities. At the watershed level it helps to identify or follow-up on areas in need of attention or remediation. At the state level it serves to identify impaired waterways and provide baseline information for further studies.

There are a few requirements for volunteers...

They must attend a training session with an Americorps member or the Watershed Association’s Project Director. The training session lasts about four hours and includes both a classroom session and a field demonstration. Volunteers must agree to conduct visual assessments of their assigned stream section in the Great Swamp Watershed two times per calendar year using the NJDEP Visual Assessment protocol. One assessment needs to be conducted in May or June and one must be conducted in November or December on each section, so the minimum time commitment is one year.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association will provide most of the necessary equipment. All assessments will be conducted by at least two people for safety reasons. The time needed to complete one assessment is estimated to be 2-3 hours, including driving time from GSWA office to and from the site.

The next training session will be held at the Watershed Association office, 568 Tempe Wick Rd., Harding, NJ, in late October/early November 2010. If you are interested, please contact Kelley Curran at 973-538-3500 x16 (e-mail kcurran@greatswamp.org).

More...

Visual Assessment Program
NJDEP Visual Assessment Protocol (pdf)
NJDEP Instructions for Completing Visual Assessment Data Sheets(pdf)
Visual Monitoring Cheat Sheet (pdf)
Visual Assessment Training Presentation (pdf)