How healthy are your local waterways? At the National Water Monitoring Day Festival, you can sign up to be a stream monitor to find the answer. Scheduled for Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Avalon Pavilion 104 of Patapsco Valley State Park, the festival is designed to provide community members of all ages an opportunity to have fun and learn about the health of their streams and waterways.
The festival will also feature the collection and identification of aquatic insects, water quality data, demonstrations on electrofishing and discussion with state and county biologists. The park will waive the normal entrance fee for everyone attending the festival.
The festival is co-sponsored by Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Non-Tidal Assessment Division.
Attendees can register to volunteer as a stream monitor for their neighborhood streams and to contribute their data directly to the Maryland Water Monitoring Council.
“Since the festival is being held on a school holiday, it will be a great time for children, as well as adults, to take advantage of their day off to have fun in the park and learn a lot about living things in the streams” said Rita Bruckler of the DNR Resource Assessment Service.
For directions to the park, visit the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.md.us, and click on Parks and Lands.
Posted: 10-16-2002
