Seasonal Volunteer Pathogen Monitoring Gets Underway
On May 23rd, 2019, IEC began its Coordinated Volunteer Pathogen Monitoring season.
This program provides training, supplies and lab analyses to enable volunteer groups to monitor pathogens in local waterways to assess recreational water quality. 2019 marks IEC’s third consecutive year working with Freshkills Park. Freshkills Park samples for fecal coliform and enterococcus in Main Creek and Richmond Creek in the remediated landfill site on Staten Island. New for 2019, IEC is also partnering with the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership to sample six sites along the Raritan River in New Jersey. LRWP’s mission is to enhance and conserve the natural resources of the Lower Raritan Watershed through science-based stewardship, education and innovation. Volunteer monitoring through IEC’s program is helping both organizations further their goals, fosters understanding and involvement with local waterways, and provides standardized, high-quality data that can be compared across the board. Monitoring will continue through September. Weekly results from LRWP’s sampling can be accessed here.