Jump on in, the Water’s Fine!

Vicki Sanders, 2022

It’s heating up outside, so let’s talk about something that will cool us down – WATER! It’s everywhere, and every living thing needs it to survive. Each of us is made up of 60% water! So, how can we be more involved with caring for the water in our environment? Stream Team and Texas Water Specialists are two great opportunities.

The Texas Stream Team monitors our waterways and reports the data to the state. Training is offered in a four-hour class, and members commit to testing the same site once a month. Testing takes about one and one-half hours plus drive time. The Chapter has all the necessary supplies for testing, and we can help you locate an appropriate site. This is also a great activity to do with a partner!

Texas Water Specialists are volunteers who provide education, outreach, and services dedicated to the beneficial management of aquatic resources and habitats. Texas Water Specialists must complete eight hours of AT per year plus ten hours of VH with water, aquatic habitats, and watersheds. Stream Team activities can count toward this! Your training will include the Texas Waters: Exploring Water and Watersheds book.

If this sounds like something you want to dive into, please get in touch with Vicki Sanders at vickis@bptmn.org.
For more information about Texas Stream Team, please visit their website https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/Leadership/TexasStreamTeam.html, and for Texas Water Specialists, you can get more information at their website https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/water-education/texaswatersprogram/texaswatersspecialist

Being a Texas Stream Team Citizen Scientist

What is Texas Stream Team?

Texas Stream Team, at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, is a statewide environmental education and volunteer-based water quality monitoring program. Texas Stream Team is specifically housed within the Meadows Center’s Watershed Services division.

What Do Texas Stream Team Members Do?

Texas Stream Team members are citizen scientists who monitor a wide variety of habitats from rivers, creeks, ponds, and lakes to bays, bayous, and estuaries and are trained to collect and submit surface water and environmental quality data.

Your training will start with the Standard Core Water Quality Citizen Scientist Training, monitoring basic parameters such as conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, total depth, water and air temperature, field observations, and water transparency using a chemical Standard Core kit. You will use your kit to monitor waterways in your local area.

All the data you collect will be entered into to The Texas Stream Team Waterways Dataviewer, a database platform that allows account holders to enter and view water quality data.

Texas Stream Team offers a variety of additional citizen science trainings and other programs. You can get more information here. https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/Leadership/TexasStreamTeam/About.html