EPA is offering equipment loans to WAVErs and other qualifying citizen science efforts in New York State

Many WAVErs have expressed interest in doing additional sampling at WAVE locations for local purposes. If you are considering this, I strongly encourage you to apply for an equipment loan from the US EPA. 

Macroinvertebrate sampling offers a great screening tool but additional sampling is necessary to identify the impairment sources. Furthermore, some pollution categories (e-coli for example) will not be detected by macroinvertebrate sampling. Other sampling methods, such as bacteria and chemical monitoring, are valuable tools for detecting and identifying water quality impairments. 

The US EPA equipment loan program offers high quality equipment for bacteria and chemical monitoring. Although there are less expensive ways to collect these data, I encourage you to take advantage of these resources. Data are only valuable when they are reliable so the more advanced methods are worth the investment.

The NYSDEC will continue to support the WAVE community and investigate "possibly impaired" WAVE locations. I'm highlighting this resource for those groups that are taking steps to work independently with local governments and organizations in addition to collaborating with the NYSDEC.

For more information, feel free to contact me or visit the program's website: http://www3.epa.gov/region02/citizenscience/

Alene Onion

WAVE Coordinator

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-3502

P: (518) 402-8166 | F: (518) 402-9029 | alene.onion@dec.ny.gov

www.dec.ny.gov