I am a NC State student in the FWCB program, and this summer I am interning with an environmental nonprofit organization, Sound Rivers. Our mission is to protect and preserve the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River watersheds and promote environmental justice in North Carolina.
Every summer beginning Memorial Day Weekend, Sound Rivers begins the Swim Guide program and monitors the water quality at different recreational sites in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico basins. Each week we will collect water samples and test the samples for traces of E. Coli. With the data collected, we report the results to the public every Friday through local news outlets, the Swim Guide website (theswimguide.org), the Sound Rivers website (soundrivers.org), and text alerts.
This summer, I will be monitoring sites in the Raleigh area with the Riverkeeper for the Upper Neuse River Basin, Matthew Starr. Each summer, volunteers help us collect water samples at 11 sites along the Neuse River and Falls Lake. We would like to continue safely engaging the Raleigh community in the Swim Guide program.
Would you be willing to include an advertisement for volunteers to assist in collecting weekly water samples for Sound Rivers in the next CNR newsletter? I will include an excerpt about the program below.
Volunteering with Sound Rivers
Sound Rivers is an environmental non-profit organization with the mission to protect and preserve the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico River watersheds and promote environmental justice in North Carolina. For the third year, the Swim Guide program began Memorial Day Weekend in order to monitor the water quality at different recreational sites in the Neuse and the Tar-Pamlico River Basins. We are looking for volunteers to assist in collecting weekly water samples from 11 locations in the Upper Neuse River Basin. Sound Rivers will test the water samples for traces of E. Coli, a good indicator of recent fecal contamination, and report the results through local news outlets, text alerts, and the Sound Rivers website.
With the COVID-19 outbreak, we are taking extra precautions to keep our volunteers safe, and we hope to have volunteers begin sampling in mid-June. If you are interested in collecting water samples at sites along the Neuse River or Falls Lake, please contact Nicole Eastman at nicole@soundrivers.org. You can also find more information about Swim Guide at soundrivers.org or sign-up for our weekly water quality text alerts by texting “SWIM” to 33222.
Thank you so much for your help, and I hope you have a great, safe summer!