Even in winter, the water flows. We may not be as aware of it, because we stay indoors more these cold, winter days where we live. But water sustains our lives, it lives within us, it is too important to ignore. With that---the Central Wisconsin Riverkeepers are attuned to---“What Next?”
Planning for next year’s water monitoring events has already been begun!
Remember we stated at the start of this year we wanted to involve a few more teams (Six to be precise!) for next year? We looked at our existing inventory and considered what we will need to affect this. A shopping list was prepared and purchases were made. We have the items we’ll need for these “new” teams now at hand. That was the easy part.
Of course, equipment is only a part of the mix. What about the necessary citizens who will provide the “waders-on, in stream” data collection, computation and data entry into the citizens-based WAV database? This is the most important part of work, true!
First, we need to assess who’s coming back for another season of monitoring. Will you be joining a team this year? Will you lead a new team? Do you want to be more involved? How can you help?
Those are good questions, don’t you think!
How many of our current leaders are up to the challenge to repeat as Stream Team Leaders? Is everyone on board to delve into this again? Were you able to accomplish your goals as a team leader? Were there any difficulties in performing this task as you wanted? I know you were asked this several times this past season because we were desperately trying to assess whether we were on target with our training and your comfort with the work.
We were told mostly, “we find this work enjoyable---the camaraderie fun---and pretty easy to accomplish.” The Group Coordinator reported, “Everyone performed the tasks without exception!”
These are good things. Now the hard question---will you return and continue your efforts for another season of WAV Level One water monitoring? Are you interested in forming one of the new teams? (I understand we’re going to have at least two school groups join us this next year and wow, are we excited about that!---More about this as it develops).
Lastly, you may have had a chance to review the Stream Data from the 2010 session. Did you have any questions relative to the data? A good place to enter your questions would be our wiki found at http://cwriverkeeper.wikispaces.com just head to the 2011 Planning Tab and feel free to add to the list there. And if you’re interested in being involved with us again, add your name to the list or contact one of the members if you don’t know how to do this. Thanks for your involvement! Happy holidays.
