Article by: Jen Young, NGRREC/L&C Marketing and PR, jenryoung@lc.edu
EAST ALTON – Winter is quickly approaching, and
Illinois RiverWatch is hoping to train community members to monitor for
chloride levels in local streams to identify areas where salt use is impacting
water quality.
During the 2021
winter season, the Illinois Department of Transportation reports using more
than 522,000 tons of salt on roadways throughout Illinois.
“Much of this
salt ends up in local rivers and streams where it harms aquatic life,” said
Danelle Haake, RiverWatch director and stream ecologist. “We are seeking
volunteers who are willing to check on their local streams several times
between October and May. Each monitoring trip could take as little as 15
minutes!”
The training is
held virtually on:
The RiverWatch
staff will provide participants with the information needed to become a Winter
Chloride Watcher.
“Our goal is to
show whether cities’ efforts are working to lessen the impact of road salt
entering streams as the cities adopt Best Management Practices for the
application of salt onto roadways,” Haake said.
For more
information on the trainings contact Haake at dhaake@lc.edu or (618) 468-2784.
To learn more
about the ecological impacts of road salt in local streams visit http://www.ngrrec.org/News-Stories/Winter-Road-Salt-Impacts-Aquatic-Ecosystems/ .
National
Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC ℠ )
Founded
in 2002 as a collaborative partnership between the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and Lewis and Clark Community College, NGRREC is dedicated to
the study of great river systems and the communities that use them. The center
aspires to be a leader in scholarly research, education, and outreach related
to the interconnectedness of large rivers, their floodplains, watersheds, and
their associated communities.