2008 Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Opportunities:

Snapshot Day:

This is an annual one-day event in May. Spanning more than 300 miles of coast from Pacifica in the north to Morro Bay in the south, Snapshot Day volunteers monitor water quality and collect samples to assess the health of as many streams as possible. Snapshot Day is a great excuse to explore our local streams while collecting important water quality information.

Urban Watch Storm Drain Monitoring Program

Program Description:

The Coastal Watershed Council's Monterey Bay Urban Watch-&-First Flush Programs help to answer questions about what kinds of urban runoff pollution are entering our storm drains, creeks & streams, and the Monterey Bay during the dry season.

During the Urban Watch (UW) program, volunteers perform in-field analysis on flows from five storm drain outfalls looking for detections of some of our most common "urban pollutants" like Detergents, Chlorine, Copper, Ammonia-Nitrogen, & turbidity, and they will also collect monthly samples for bacteria analysis.

As the 'dry' season comes to a close, and the fall storms loom, volunteers and staff will train for the "First Flush" event (FF), in which volunteers monitor the first significant rain of the season, day or night. FF water samples are collected at the Urban Watch outfalls and are taken to the lab for analysis of metals, bacteria, nutrients, etc.

Volunteers needed:

The Urban Watch Program is comprised of community volunteers who monitor storm drains that are emptying into waterways and the Sanctuary. Volunteers are trained to analyze water samples and collect samples for lab analysis using the Urban Watch Water Quality Monitoring Kit. Volunteers work in teams of three or more and conduct weekly monitoring during the dry weather season, July-November. No chemistry background or prior monitoring experience is needed to participate.

For every month, each team of volunteers is assigned one week within which they will monitor on two separate occasions; dedicating approximately 8 hoursper month (~4hrs each trip). The volunteers collect and process samples from designated storm drain outfalls and then return to the same sampling sites a second time within their assigned 'week' to perform the tests again. This provides comparative data for learning more about when contaminants are being discharged into storm drain systems. Volunteers 'self-schedule' within their assigned week.

During the "Urban Watch" period, volunteers perform analysis for Detergents, Chlorine, Copper, Ammonia-Nitrogen, as well as basic conditions such asturbidity,conductivity, pH, water temperature, water color and odor etc, and then they will collect monthly samples for bacteria analysis at a laboratory.As the 'dry' season comes to a close, volunteers and staff will train for the "First Flush" event, in which volunteers monitor the first significant rain of the season, day or night-and yes, we do it in the dark!!. First Flush water samples are collected at the Urban Watch outfalls and taken to a lab for analysis of metals, bacteria,nutrients, toxicity, etc.

This program is suitable for all adults & children over 14 years of age with parent participation.

If you are interested in becoming an Urban Watch-First Flush Volunteer or would ike to learn more about the program, please call or email today!

First Flush Event

Program Description:

If you want to find out more about the water flowing off our streets into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary by monitoring the first storm of the season, please join in!

This event typically occurs in October or November. We hold a classroom and field training in late September each year.

During this annual event, we collect water samples from storm drain outfalls in Half Moon Bay , Santa Cruz , Capitola, Monterey, Seaside and Pacific Grove during the first major rain of the season.

No experience is necessary!

We need many volunteers to collect water samples (day or night )! Volunteers will be informed about common urban pollutants, and how to collect samples and use monitoring equipment.

Urban runoff is one of the largest sources of pollution in the Bay and

throughout the country.

Help keep the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary clean and healthy!

Internships

CWC is always looking for interns. We can arrange for you to get school credit for your work with us. We are already registered at the Environmental Internship office at UCSC.

Our interns get up close and personal with the watersheds of Santa Cruz County. They split their time between working in our office and working at our monitoring sites.