Water Rangers

Summer is a critical time for water monitoring, as CAFOs operate at high capacity and are prone to pollute waterways during heavy storms. To help community members get started, the Water Rangers team released a new How to Develop a Water Monitoring Plan Worksheet, which covers best practices and answers common questions for new monitors. 

This September, the team hosted its first Sampling Surge, launched on World Water Monitoring Day. Inspired by Kentucky Watershed Watch, the weeklong event invited volunteers and community members to test water at one or more sites in their community, photograph the sites, and submit their results, photos, and observations through an online form. They highlighted this opportunity in their September quarterly newsletter. Water Rangers had four community groups participate (Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin), three of which found high levels of phosphorus and were highlighted on instagram. This was a great initial event and the team is excited to launch another Sampling Surge in 2027.

Throughout the third quarter, Water Rangers continued to host trainings, leading four sessions that reached 19 participants. Trainings were held for community members in Wilkes County, North Carolina and Wayne County, Kentucky. The Community Support Program sent the Water Rangers Team five training referrals this quarter. They completed training with one of those communities and are planning to schedule trainings with three others. In addition, in early September, the team conducted a training at a Michigan tribal conference, where they also shared more about SRAP’s work and resources and met with representatives from five Michigan tribes, including the Lac Vieux Desert, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, along with partners from inter-tribal, regulatory, and research organizations. There was strong interest in collaborating, and we’re excited to build on these connections. Water Rangers initiated a conversation with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community at the conference and followed up with them in a meeting at the end of September. The team is going to review several Nutrient Management Plans from CAFOs in the area and provide some information to the Tribe.

Looking forward, Water Rangers is excited to lead a training in late October in Duplin County, North Carolina in partnership with the Duplin County NAACP and Cape Fear River Watch.