Project Report
| Jul 15, 2025
Water Rangers Report | July 2025
By Julia Groenfeldt | Development Manager
The Water Rangers Program continued to grow its reach in the second quarter of 2025, conducting 12 training sessions across six states and drawing a total of 100 participants. These included general trainings in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, as well as site-specific trainings tailored to local communities in Newton County, Missouri, Marinette County, Wisconsin, Isabella County, Michigan, and with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. SRAP also hosted a national training in late May, which brought together 38 participants from across the country. Earlier in the quarter, SRAP also joined the UCLA lab group studying antibiotic resistance for a water sampling effort near Green Bay, Wisconsin. This collaboration is part of ongoing research that will help shed light on the links between CAFO pollution and antimicrobial threats-more updates will be shared as research findings are published. This quarter also marked a deeper commitment to Tribal outreach in Michigan. With support from Native consultant, Good Sky Guidance, the Water Rangers team continued its ongoing work building relationships with Native Nations, learning more about how industrial livestock operations are affecting Tribal communities, and identifying opportunities for culturally relevant water monitoring and advocacy. The team is working toward an in-person visit with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe this summer to strengthen those connections.
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Mar 26, 2025
Water Rangers Report
By Julia Groenfeldt | Development Manager
The Water Rangers Program has had a strong start to 2025, achieving several key milestones. They have conducted three training sessions so far — two public trainings for Indiana/Ohio and Illinois/Wisconsin and a private training for Washtenaw County, Michigan. There were 60 individual attendees across these three trainings, many of whom requested water testing kits and expressed interest in further engagement. Additional training sessions are scheduled, including a national training and state trainings for Michigan, Nebraska, and Minnesota. Ongoing efforts are being made to organize sessions in Missouri and Pennsylvania.
In March, Cole Dickerson, Water Rangers Program Manager, presented at the National Monitoring Conference, highlighting the role of SRAP’s GIS portal in water monitoring and advocacy efforts. Community engagement efforts also have been a focus this quarter, with listening sessions conducted for Missouri, Wisconsin’s Lower Sugar River Watershed, and GreenLatinos. SRAP is also expanding its outreach to Native Nations in Michigan and other key regions through collaboration with Good Sky Guidance. Additionally, SRAP has strengthened its advocacy efforts by officially joining the Illinois Livestock Reform Coalition to further expand water protection initiatives. These combined efforts continue to build momentum in supporting local advocates in their fight against concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) pollution and protecting water resources.
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Nov 27, 2024
Water Rangers Project Report
By Julia Groenfeldt | Development Manager
The Water Rangers team has continued to expand the program to more communities throughout the country. In July, the team hosted a virtual training for a community in New York and an in-person training in Ohio. The in-person training included 16 participants from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. The training included information on local industrial livestock facilities, possible sources of contamination, aerial images, and how to collect and analyze water samples. It was an important meeting for the community that catalyzed action. This year, the team has hosted 16 trainings for nearly 100 participants.
The team has continued to implement the culturally appropriate outreach plan and conduct extensive outreach to Native Nations in Wisconsin and Michigan, with assistance from Indigenous consultant Bazile Panek of Good Sky Guidance. They have meetings scheduled with the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council, Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu, and the Lac Vieux Desert Tribe (Michigan).
The team has continued collaborating with the Community Support program to connect impacted communities to resources or training opportunities and with the Food & Farm Network to engage Water Rangers volunteers in public comment periods and policy opportunities. Recently, Water Rangers collaborated with FFN to engage program participants and network contacts in a public comment period for the recently convened EPA Animal Agriculture and Water Quality Subcommittee.
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