The Richmond Hill Garden Club is again scheduling a Coastal Georgia Adopt-a-Wetland Workshop in partnership with the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service.
This program is the marine counterpart to Adopt-a-Stream, which is coordinated by the Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division
The program seeks volunteers to test wetlands in their neighborhood or community. Wetlands are any salt marsh, tidal creek, river, beach or swamp. Wetlands are valuable coastal resources, playing an important role in water quality, sediment retention, flood control and wildlife habitat. The goals of the Adopt-a-Wetlands program are to increase public awareness of the State’s non-point pollution and water quality issues and to provide citizens with the tools and training to evaluate and protect their local waterways.
Volunteers learn to do water quality testing they do once a month. This testing takes about an hour of your time. The data the volunteers collect is forwarded to the main Adopt-a-Stream office in Atlanta. Data that is collected by AAS/AAW volunteers can potentially detect serious pollution problems or can be used by scientists to indicate water quality over time. Volunteers recently recorded evidence of the non-native invasion species, Mytella charruana mussel in the waters of Bryan County.
A workshop to become certified in chemical and visual monitoring will be held at the Stephens Wetland Center in Gregory Park on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. The program lasts about two hours. This class is also intended for those that need to do the yearly recertification.
The Coastal Georgia Adopt-a-Wetland Program and the Richmond Hill Garden Club encourages individuals to attend the workshop and learn the basic tools to test for pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity. Volunteers are particularly needed along the lower Ogeechee River.
For more information and to sign up for the class, call Angela Bliss at the Marine Extension Service at 598-2348 ext. 2 or Garden Club Chairperson, Mary Burns at 727-3219