Greetings Stream Volunteers and Others,
The NYS DEC Water Assessments by Volunteer Evaluators (WAVE) season started July 1st and runs through Sept. 30th! Rockland County SWCD will be using this protocol for our annual stream biomonitoring citizen science program (previously used Hudson Basin River Watch guidelines).
Those interested in assessing throughout the County should be trained in W.A.V.E. prior to sampling a stream. The WAVE training is pretty simple and much less time consuming than the HBRW protocol you are all used to.
A half day training will be provided for those interested in monitoring this field season. For those that complete the training, you will be W.A.V.E. Basic Trained which allows you to go out into the field and monitor for 5 years. At least one W.A.V.E. Basic volunteer must be with each group (thus not all folks that plan to monitor need to get this training, only one from the group is necessary but all are welcome!).
Training Date is listed below along with materials that would be useful to bring to the training. There might be a weekend training option added if many folks cannot attend a weekday event. *This training is a great addition to a recent college graduates resume!*
Training Date:
Thursday, July 23 @ 9am-1pm
Kakiat Park, 668 Haverstraw Road, Montebello, NY Meet in parking lot, near park entrance
What to bring:
Water
Snacks
Waterproof Boots or closed toed water shoes (keens or tevas) Sunscreen
*Stream(s) and locations interested in assessing *List of names of people interested in assessing (if part of a group)
Training Overview:
Basic WAVE Training encompasses an overview of the new sampling protocol, benthic macro invertebrate identification, habitat assessment protocol and perception assessment protocol. All of those attending will have the opportunity to enter the stream and help collect samples.
I look forward to meeting many of you at the training!
Nicole V. Laible
Environmental Management Assistant
Rockland County Division of Environmental Resources
50 Sanatorium Road, Building K
Pomona, NY 10970
Phone: 845-364-2669
Fax: 845-364-2671
Email: laiblen@co.rockland.ny.us
