For Immediate Release:  Wednesday, October 16, 2002  Contact:  Justin Taylor 512/663-4004

Water monitor training event to be held at Lake Belton on October 19; working towards goals set by Clean Water Act 30 years ago  

WHAT: Water Monitor Training & Clean Water Act Celebration

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 19, 10am-2pm

WHERE: White Flint Park, Lake Belton (follow sign at park entrance to training site)

MORE INFO: (512) 477-1729 or Justin.Taylor@sierraclub.org

This Saturday, October 19^th the Sierra Club Water Sentinels Campaign will host a training session for volunteer water monitors. The event is also a celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act. The passage of the Clean Water Act in October 1972 established the most important environmental protections for water resources in this country.  The CWA continues to be the most significant environmental law protecting our nation’s lakes and streams, and great progress has been made.  Unfortunately, attainment of the original goal of the act to make all waters in the U.S. safe for fishing and swimming is still a long way off.  A new EPA report reveals that more than a third of all rivers and about half of all lakes in the United States are too polluted for fishing and swimming.

The volunteer monitor training session will be held to complete certification of water quality monitors to collect and analyze water quality samples on the Leon River and Lake Belton.  The training is being conducted in conjunction with Texas Watch, a statewide volunteer monitoring program that trains and certifies volunteer monitors to collect quality-assured environmental data.

The purpose of the volunteer monitoring will be to collect monthly water quality data on the Leon River and Lake Belton and get an indication of the overall quality of the river and lake that supplies drinking water to 250,000 people in the region. 

The Leon River is the primary water source of Lake Belton, a reservoir that supplies drinking water to over 250,000 people in the Central Texas area.  The Leon River above Lake Belton has been listed by the state as impaired due to elevated bacteria concentrations in the water, and concern has been noted for excessive nutrient loads.  The watershed is home to many large dairy CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), with approximately 65,000 head of dairy cattle concentrated in the Comanche and Erath County portions of the watershed.  These CAFOs have contributed significantly to the river’s impairment with contaminated runoff from the huge amounts of waste generated at their facilities.