Happy New year from the Volunteer Coordinator!

A new year is here for us all! I am sharing a little of my optimism...

• We survived 2020!
• We gained valuable new insights into ourselves and others
• In some cases, we reconsidered our priorities

Here are some thank you thoughts:

Thank you if you have sent in a little "howdy" email in response to an email sent, or just to say hello, thank you for continued stream monitoring, thank you for knowing we are not abandoning you, times are just really weird, thank you for going into 2021 with us and with a plan to do some amazing work for the good of our world.

Keep reading your eNewsletter!

Wow, it is awesome that so many volunteers got in touch with me through tests and emails because they wanted their vintage Blue Thumb bandanas! As a collector of bandanas, I have a couple of these vintage bandanas around my own house. They are very handy at mealtime, for wiping down a counter, as a style statement to keep hair in place, and so much more.

Volunteers who email or text me the fastest (after receipt of this newsletter) will be provided with a rain gauge! The first ten volunteers who text (918-398-1804) or email will be the lucky winners! Why a rain gauge? Because having a rain gauge connects you with the very beginning of the stream you monitor or a local stream in your neighborhood. Every time rain falls, there is the promise that drinking water is replenished, fish can survive, crops can grow, and we get a free car wash.

Here is a challenge: If you WIN a rain gauge and you put it in your yard, make a commitment to record each rainfall. This adds another layer of connection to the relationship we share with the planet we are working to protect. Thank you for reading "From the Water's Edge."

Can you fall in Love with Data?

As your volunteer coordinator, it may seem that my job would revolve around keeping volunteers well prepared to do good work in the watersheds AND then providing assignments that result in MORE people protecting streams and rivers. I love the sound of this, and much of my job is about this. In 2020 there have been variations. So lately, I have been exploring the Blue Thumb stores of data. Data on YOUR stream, on streams that have not been monitored in several years, data about bugs, data about fish, data about habitat, data about chemistry.

You might think that this will be an article on data, but only on the surface, because data is a big subject. It has occurred to me that there are rich and varied stories to tell based on data. Now, with the help of additional Blue Thumb staff members, your eNewsletter is going to begin telling some of the stories that the data wants to tell, is maybe even crying to tell, and these will be stories that volunteers will want to share.

Here is a bit of a teaser: the first story may be about Crow Creek in Tulsa County. Why Crow Creek? Because Crow Creek:

• has data going back to 1997
• is one of Blue Thumb's most consistently monitored streams
• has a large number of people living in the watershed
• the Crow Creek Community is a citizen group formed to help the stream
• is the focus of a freshly created watershed based plan

Crow Creek is in the Central Irregular Plains ecoregion. Its habitat has usually scored better than the reference average, yet fish collections are poor, and benthic macroinvertebrate collections are about average.

Please tune in to your next "From the Water's Edge" and learn something about Crow Creek. And do you want to nominate your stream to be featured? Just email me and I will work with additional Blue Thumb staff members to see what can be said about your stream!

Cheryl Cheadle
Volunteer Coordinator

To our Monthly Monitors:

Howdy Howdy from your QA Officer,

One of the questions from this past Fall QA was about should you monitor when it is raining or snowing. Several volunteers that I met up with for QA got this question wrong, which led to some good discussion (a big point as to why I pick many of the QA questions that I do). YES, is the answer. Yes, you should monitor your creek when it is raining/snowing as long as it is NOT lightning, thundering, you can park safely, you can get down to the creek safely, you can safely fill your oxygen and sample bottles. You DO NOT need to go to the exact same spot you usually monitor. If the creek is too high/fast for you to get to your usual spot, please just monitor at the edge of where you can reach as long as you feel safe to do so. If you monitor at a low water crossing and the creek usually flows just over, or even under, the low water crossing but is now flowing a lot faster and wider over the low water crossing, walk to the edge of the water where it is deep enough to fill your bottles - as long as you feel safe enough to do that. If it is lightning/thundering, wait it out if the storm is blowing away; wait until the next day, or wait a week if need be.

Each creek, each storm, each volunteer(s) is going to be a different situation. Just use your best judgement and your safety should be your first priority. If you have a big snow/ice storm and went out to your creek once to fulfill that month’s monitoring but you didn't collect any samples, please fill out the front page of the datasheet as best you can and in the comments write a short blurb as to why you couldn't collect samples and do the chemistry tests. It does happen. And it doesn't just have to be due to a storm. Maybe your site is under construction, or the location where you monitor is closed temporarily due to any number of reasons, or any other original reason why you can't get to you creek site to monitor; PLEASE fill out the front page as best you can and write something in the comment box about why you couldn't monitor. This is still viable data and is tracking whatever it is that is going on. I hope this is making sense to you readers that monitor, but if not, please feel free to contact me and we can talk it out because each situation, each creek, each volunteer(s) is going to be a different situation with perhaps a different answer.

Please don't social distance yourself from your creek. Keep sending in your data. Use the new data entry App/link! We hope you find it an easier way to submit your data.

Kim Shaw
Blue Thumb QA Officer

Friends of Blue Thumb is gearing up for a very big year. The small nonprofit has vowed to help make the awesome new Yard by Yard Project a statewide initiative. Now FBT is preparing to offer individual volunteers the chance to receive help to make your education and monitoring efforts more successful.

FBT board meets on 1/19/2021 and they will prepare their announcement for volunteer grants. You will be able to find more information in your next "From the Water's Edge." Let FBT help you make a difference to your stream.

Blue Thumb Volunteer Trainings

Stillwater: January 30 (Stream Ecology Education) January 31 (Stream Monitoring)*

*Stream Ecology Education Training is a prerequisite to take this training*

Sign up here!

Soil Health in 2021

"Nurturing Diversity as We Learn from Our Past"

As we begin a new year and reflect on the challenges of 2020, let us not forget what we have learned. We realized quickly that diversity is key. We feared shortages of essentials such as food, toilet paper, and much more. These shortages stemmed from our dependence on a smaller number of food and product suppliers. As a community, we realized the need to start focusing on hyper local food sourcing and supporting our local farmers. However, much of our day-to-day food supply comes from large farms with reduced diversity. If you pay close attention to television commercials, you will notice many small nods to quality farming, caring for the land, and the importance of soil health. Industry understands the impacts these soil health changes can make, and they too are trying to increase diversity. Whether you support large businesses, local farmers, or both, be aware of what you eat. It is important to understand the processes that must occur from farm to table and the families these purchases impact. Most importantly, reflect on your choices as an individual and the impacts you can make on your own land or the land you use daily. We can improve the planet, but the work can't all be placed on the farmer's shoulder and the work will take time. You all know the impacts land can have on water. Share those stories with your local communities. Even a small urban lawn can help reduce water quality problems within their city and community, leading to improvements in the surrounding ecosystem. Educate your neighbors to better understand nature and not be fearful of nature. We must not allow our fears to drive our decisions about land management. Nurturing diversity is key for survival. We must all allow space for wildlife, diversity, and change. We still have a long way to grow in soil health throughout Oklahoma, but our communities have become aware of the impacts that removing diversity has on our ecosystem. Please use this as an opportunity to encourage ecosystem health and soil health within your community.

Amy Seiger
Soil Health Coordinator

Oklahoma Conservation Commission

Oklahoma Conservation Districts

Project WET

Friends of Blue Thumb

Soil Health Program

Department of Environmental Quality

EnvironMentor

Macroinvertebrate ID Website