The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Volunteers from Little Cypress Junior High, including students, teachers, aides, parents and other community members, attended a training to learn how to monitor water quality. Woody Cox, Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School environmental science teacher and part of the Texas Stream Team, led the training session.

Texas Stream Team is a network of trained volunteers and supportive partners working together to gather information about the natural resources of Texas and to assure the information is available to all Texans.  Established in 1991, Texas Stream Team is administered through a cooperative partnership between Texas State University, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Currently, over 1,400 Texas Stream Team volunteers collect water quality data on lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, bays, bayous, and estuaries in Texas.

The volunteers learn how to monitor pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity and water turbidity.

The training consists of three phases: Phase one includes demonstration of the equipment and testing by Mr. Cox. Phase two included hands on training in the laboratory and in phase three, field tests were conducted.

The field work was completed on Little Cypress Bayou on Bear Path directly under the bridge.

During the training the volunteers completed each test, recorded the data, and were instructed on how to send the information to the appropriate agencies where it will be added to the data base.

After completion of the training, the volunteers can choose an existing site to monitor or they can choose a site of their choice. The students at LCJH will continue to monitor and report the data from Little Cypress Bayou.

The water monitoring training was sponsored by the Spirit Cubs, sponsored by Cathy Kimbrow and Susan Harsh, in an effort to increase student awareness of environmental issues.