A few years ago, through the Spartanburg Community Indicators Project, we were challenged to present information on the quality of source waters within the county. With extremely little data available, the Watershed Ecology Center began to look into citizen monitoring and initially brought Adopt-A-Stream to Spartanburg through the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream program. In the spring of 2017, South Carolina DHEC began an Adopt-A-Stream program for the state, which the WEC now employs for our Spartanburg County residents! Through workshops, citizens (must be at least 13 years of age) are certified by SCDHEC in core components of water monitoring, Freshwater and Macro Invertebrate. These workshops follow a QAAP approved by the EPA, and while it is designed to be passed, there are exams in each component to assure that all volunteers follow the same procedures when collecting data.
Adopt-a-Stream helps increase public awareness and participation in the monitoring of Upstate streams. This volunteer stream monitoring is beneficial to the community at large because it allows for screening of smaller local creeks, all of which are part of the larger watershed responsible for providing water for the county’s drinking supply, fishing, boating, swimming and, in some cases, irrigation of crops. The data collected is invaluable in determining which streams may need a helping hand.
For more information about this program, certification training workshops or re-certification programs, email the Watershed Ecology Center or call 864-503-5728.
Join us at an upcoming workshop by clicking on the registration link below. If there are no workshops listed, please check back as registration begins three weeks prior to the workshop. We generally hold workshops in March, April, May, September, October and November.
Other resources include: