Community Outreach and Education Events for 2013

Outreach Events in 2013

Work in 2013  done under the Supervision of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians

 Project 1:

Friends of Salt Springs State Park – Susquehanna County Event

Brian Oram, of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians and a professional geologist with B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. will conduct a private or community based education and awareness programs on water quality. The organization will hold a “fact based presentation” that reviews real concerns and issues in our communities today and non-point and point sources of contamination that is supported by the Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation and Development Council and the C-SAW Program.  Some hands-on “quick” water testing will be done capturing pH, ionic salt measurements, (conductivity) and total dissolved solids (TDS) on the tap water, and 2 streams at Salt Springs State Park.  There has already been multiple email and telephone discussions and an initial review of the available water quality data.

 This will be the equivalent of a 1 day training event related to private wells, non-point pollution sources, groundwater and surfacewater interaction, water testing, some Marcellus Shale Issues.  The training will target education, mentoring, and teaching local citizens how to screen water quality in groundwater and surfacewater.  The training will be fact based cover surfacewater and groundwater issues, non-point source pollution, point source pollution, and will be used to aid in the local and regional water quality and environmental monitoring and conservancy efforts.  The event will be held at the Salt Springs State Park.  The presentation used in this workshop will be converted to a pdf file and posted on the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians Website, and Slideshare.  The full cost of developing the presentation is not included in the cost for this project.

Minimum Estimated In-kind – $ 1900.00

Project 2:

Hidden Lake Association 

This assistance is related to mentoring and general assistance with the organizations educational outreach, watershed monitoring efforts, and educating the community.   The organization needs a refresher in the use of their monitoring equipment, compiling data in a spreadsheet format, selecting reagents, and reviewing sampling techniques. The consultants will also include a review of recent groundwater testing conducted by the organization. There has already been 1 planning meeting with the organization and multiple email and telephone discussions.

Estimated In-kind – $ 660.00

Project 3:

Luzerne County Conservation District- Free Education Event

An educational program on Groundwater Resources and Protecting/Monitoring Private Wells for Residents in Luzerne County, the event will be help on a Saturday in July 27, 2013.   The private well owners will also screen their well water samples for pH, conductivity, nitrate, alkalinity, hardness, nitrite, and iron.    The presentation will include a summary of the data within the Citizens Groundwater and Surfacewater Database, plus showing citizens how to monitor the quality of the groundwater and surfacewater using visual clues and low cost monitoring instruments.

Estimated In-kind – $ 2400.00

Project 4: 

Riverfest – Public Education Event

June 21- 23, 2013 – Education Session is on June 22, 2013 in Wilkes Barre – they are requesting an interactive family activity.  I am waiting on their application. To attend Riverfest as a representative of the C-SAW Program –this will require the following allocation and items.  The event is requesting interactive activities for the families and children.  This will including promoting the C-SAW Program, leading interactive activities related to water quality monitoring, microscopic evaluations of insects, and groundwater/surfacewater interactions.   The Council will provide the necessary materials for this event as it relates to the C-SAW program.  This does not include the cost of reproducing educational materials.

Estimated In-kind – $ 500.00

Project 5:

Lake Ariel

The homeowners association is requesting assistance with aiding in the review of their water quality monitoring efforts, conducting groundwater monitoring, and training and informing the local stakeholders.  The focus of this effort will to conduct an education outreach effort for the association, aid in developing a groundwater monitoring program, education on non-point source and point source pollution control, and the interactions between surfacewater and groundwater.  The areas of key discussion will include septic systems, private wells, fertilizers, and other non-point sources of pollution. There has already been 1 planning meeting with the organization and multiple email and telephone discussions.  After the planning meeting, we assisted with baseline sampling and then conducted a community meeting with over 50+ private well owners attending.

Estimated In-kind – $ 2500.00

The projects will be billed by the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians at 501 C3.  This work is part of the educational outreach efforts for this organization.

Volunteer

We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.

Everything we do began with an idea.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.

Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law..  Unsolicited donations are appreciated.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).