Volunteer Opportunities
Save Our Streams (SOS):
Why would we want to test the quality of water in our local streams, rivers and lakes? We study this to determine if there might be a hazard (chemicals, bacteria, sediment, etc.) that may affect the people and animals that rely on those bodies of water for everyday life.
Save Our Streams (SOS) is a nation wide program that supports watershed education through outreach programs. Over the past 30 years, SOS has educated and motivated people to clean up our neighborhood streams, monitor stream health, and protect the local wetlands.
This unique opportunity is available for students, scouts, and families to become a trained to monitor their local streams and rivers. You could end up developing a monitoring network in your own community.
Contact Virginia's Save Our Streams Regional Office: http://www.vasos.org/
Save Our Streams Training - FREE
Adopt-A-Stream:
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has created an Adopt-A-Stream program. This program is a voluntary, do-it-yourself program where your group agrees to at least one, preferably two, cleanups per year for at least two years. The minimum length of shoreline a group can adopt is one-quarter mile. An average of two may cover a mile of lightly littered shoreline in an hour or two. Many groups opt for two cleanups a year, one in the spring and another in the fall. DCR helps by providing trash bags, gloves, safety vests, and instructional and promotional documents. DCR also gives each group custom signage featuring the adopted waterway and organization.
To get started: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/adopt.shtml
Storm Drain Stenciling:
Another way to serve their community is by making fellow citizens aware of stormwater runoff pollution by stenciling storm drains. Many people mistakenly believe stormwater runoff is treated before emptying into nearby waterways. These painted messages remind residents of the link between streets and a waterway's health. It's a community effort with lasting effects.
For free Stencils from DCR: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/forms/DCR199-027.pdf