World Water Monitoring Day is September 18!

To order your free test kit, participation certificates, fact sheets, puzzles and worksheets; please call us at 406-994-6425 or emails us at kwatson@montana.edu.

 Students Make Valuable Contribution to World Water Monitoring Day

More and more, students are leading the efforts to protect their local environment.  Living in a world shrunken by technology, they have a better understanding of the interdependence of important natural resources in a larger, global setting.

Since 2002, many youth have demonstrated their growing knowledge while participating in World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD). Observed officially each year on September 18, WWMD presents an important opportunity for young people to become involved in safeguarding natural resources on a local, national and international scale. Students around the world from Argentina to Zimbabwe have paid their local waterways a visit in order to test four basic indicators of water quality. Dissolved oxygen, pH (acidity), temperature and turbidity (clarity) are important, yet basic indicators of the water’s quality.

While engaged in this annual event, students can learn more about the watersheds in which they live, how watersheds work and how protecting their waters can have beneficial impacts downstream. Teachers and students often use their data to discuss impacts in their local watershed and compare their findings with others. The Water Environment Federation and the International Water Association serve as the primary coordinators for the program. A complete list of sponsors and partners is found on the web site.

For more information, visit the World Water Monitoring Day website at www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.

Field Sketching

Does anyone have lesson plans to practice field sketching in the classroom? I am looking for tips to add depth to field sketches. The target group is middle school and we would take a few class periods to introduce the material before we go into the field. Rai Hahn Fairfield Middle School

IBM Commercial: Smarter Water Management

How much water does it take to make...

How much water does it take to make a sheet of paper? A cup of coffee? A kilo of beef? You would be surprised! [Look for answers at the end]!

"Left to its own devices, the earth has a near perfect, self-regulating water system. But when man interacts with water, we change it, redirect it or otherwise alter its state!" With advances in technology — sophisticated sensor networks, smart meters, deep computing and analytics — technology giant IBM is helping clients and partners make smarter decisions about water management. By monitoring, measuring and analyzing water systems, from rivers and reservoirs to pumps and pipes, we can better understand the issues around water and help and support the effective management of this precious resource.

Dr. Cameron Brooks, director of Smarter Water Management in IBM's Big Green Innovations group, will provide a keynote presentation at the 2010 Watershed Symposium. Cameron is leading a team of technical experts and business development executives who are leveraging IBM’s information management, advanced analytics and technology services capabilities to develop water management solutions for government, utility and enterprise customers.

The 2010 Watershed Symposium will take place September 7-9, 2010 in Helena, Montana at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel. Diverse participation by 200 folks from across the state is anticipated. Additional information and online registration is available at www.mtwatersheds.org

Answers:
One sheet of paper= 10 liters of water
One cup of coffee = 140 liters of water
One kilo of beef = 15,500 liters of water

WOW! For more facts, check out IBMs Smarter Water website www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/water_management/ideas/index.html

Madison Stream Team Completes First Round of Sampling
With the conclusion of sampling on the West Fork of the Madison yesterday afternoon, the Madison Stream Team can proudly say they have successfully completed their first ever sampling on 5 area streams- O'Dell, Moore, North Meadow, South Meadow, and West Fork. These committed volunteers accomplished this task with professional and at the same time hilarious attitudes! I am very proud of their hard work!!

UPPER GALLATIN PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THE RESULTS OF A 3-YEAR WATER QUALITY STUDY

Blue Water Task Force is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, August 25th from 7-9pm at Bucks T4 in Big Sky to discuss the results of a 3 year water quality study (Total Maximum Daily Load "TMDL" assessments). We would love to hear your input! Public input is an important part of the TMDL process. Refreshments provided! Any questions, please contact Kristin Gardner at (406) 993-2519 or kristin@bluewatertaskforce.org.

Big Sky Watershed Team Announcement

The Montana Watershed Coordination Council, Montana Conservation Corps, and Montana Association of Conservation District are announcing the AmeriCorps Big Sky Watershed Team. This program will potentially partner AmeriCorps volunteers with grassroots natural resource organizations across the state. For a fraction of the typical cost, you’ll be able to add the functional equivalent of a high-skill, full-time employee to expand the scope, reach, and effectiveness of your organization.

These AmeriCorps members will serve for 1700 hours (~11 months) and can help your organization in any number of ways. Depending on your specific needs, this could either include your water monitoring program or expansion into other natural resource issues. Members can grant write and fundraise, recruit and train new volunteers, perform community outreach and communications work, or develop and execute new educational programs.

The Big Sky Watershed Team can potentially be ready to place volunteers with community organizations in the fall of 2011. If you are interested in hosting an AmeriCorps volunteer within your organization, we would like to talk to you to learn more about how this new program can help you execute more on-the-ground natural resource projects.

Please contact Rabi Vandergon, who is helping develop the program, at either 406-444-0504 or Rvandergon@mt.gov.

July Raffle Winner

Congratulations... Todd Wester!!!

Todd has won $500 for his school's monitoring program! Thank you to all of our contributors this month! August brings more opportunities to contribute. Keep up the great work everyone!

The data used for this drawing is posted below. Please note that the results were sorted by number value for ease of selection. If you have a alternative mode of choosing a winner, I welcome your input!

Name        Date of Entry           Random Number
wen           7/28/2010 11:28     0.005617
hahn          7/27/2010 9:09       0.032676
bone         7/28/2010 9:58        0.143205
gardner     7/27/2010 11:33      0.458383
wen          7/28/2010 1:53        0.557884
sullivan      7/28/2010 6:31        0.719309
mcbroom  7/26/2010 3:52        0.728855
madison    7/28/2010 11:30      0.829847
hahn          7/29/2010 5:59        0.83114
sullivan      7/28/2010 3:20        0.885402
sullivan      7/28/2010 6:33        0.942142
wester      7/26/2010 12:21     0.998896

Posted on behalf of Bill Tramp, Science teacher at Custer County District High School

7/30/2010

For the first time in over 100 years, fish are able to bypass Twelve Mile Dam and migrate upstream. When the Twelve Mile Dam was built for irrigation it blocked fish migration and during irrigation season, many downstream migrating fish were diverted into the irrigation canal and onto fields.

Thanks to the efforts of local, Roger Muggli and the US Fish and Wildlife Service among others two structures were built to help fix this problem. The first was a fish diversion that diverts downstream migrating fish around the dam and back into the Tongue instead of the irrigation canal. The second structure is a boulder filled channel that allows fish to swim around the dam and get upstream.

These projects are good models for what can be done with diversion dams like the ones on the Yellowstone at Glendive and Forsyth.