PATTON – Following increased shale gas development and concerns over potential impacts on water quality, Trout Unlimited’s (TU) Coldwater Conservation Corps is seeking to engage volunteers to monitor streams in their area.
The program, free to participants, trains volunteers to detect and alert authorities to potential pollution events as well as to collect baseline data in watersheds with the potential to experience shale gas development in the future.
This statewide project, initiated in 2010, is designed to protect coldwater streams in the shale gas region of Central Appalachia by early identification of water quality problems and characterization of baseline watershed health.
Sensitive coldwater streams that are home to unique aquatic life, such as the eastern brook trout, the only trout native to Pennsylvania, are prioritized for monitoring.
“Brook trout require cold, clean water to survive. A decline in brook trout populations can be an early indication that the health of the aquatic ecosystem as a whole is at risk,” said Jake Lemon, eastern shale gas monitoring coordinator for Trout Unlimited.
To date the volunteer monitoring program has trained 486 participants in Pennsylvania who monitor 208 sites on 162 different streams throughout the state.
The next training for interested volunteers will be on April 25 in Patton. E-mail Jake Lemon at jlemon@tu.org or call at 814-779-3965 to RSVP or learn more.