UPCOMING EVENTS
View full calendarWater is life: quality matters
Our mission: To help people understand the link between the quality of our water, land uses, and everyday activities.
Natural Resource Field Days
We held another successful Natural Resouces Field Days, thanks to our wonderful partners and volunteers! For two weeks, Sept.12-16 and Sept. 19-23, 4th graders throughout Cache County learned about natural resources in Logan Canyon. Stations focused on water quality, plants, soils, and wildlife of the area. For more details on the event, click on more information.
MORE INFORMATION
Attention Educators
As you start to plan your lessons for the school year, make sure to check out our Stream Side Science lessons. The Fall is a great time to take advantage of the weather. Plan an outing to nearby
stream or pond and explore the water quality. Lessons are categorized by grade, topic
and core alignment. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us, 435-797-2580
or waterquality@usu.edu!
Harmful Algal Blooms in Utah:
In late July 2016 , harmful algal blooms were identified in several Utah waterbodies, including Utah Lake, the Jordan River, and Scofield Reservoir.
These “blooms” occur when some types of toxin-producing microscopic algae reach high concentrations. Conditions that favor these blooms include very warm and calm weather and water bodies with high concentrations of dissolved nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen).
The Utah Division of Water Quality, with the help of health departments and volunteers, actively monitors lakes throughout the state. At this point, no waters in Utah are known to have toxin concentrations above water quality drinking water standards so all waters can be used for recreation, irrigation and other uses.
These toxins can be quite hazardous, however, and blooms can develop quickly. Therefore, pay attention to rapidly changing conditions (floating mats of algae, or highly turbid, green waters.) If you see conditions change or for the most current information on harmful algal blooms in Utah, go to: http://deq.utah.gov/locations/U/utahlake/algal-bloom.htm.
National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop
Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop was held on August 23 -25, 2016, Salt Lake City, Utah. It was an excellent oportunity to collaborate with scientists around the nation and learn successes and challenges with monitoring and reducing nonpoint source pollution. Utah Water Watch held a workshop about the citizen monitoring program and collaborated with several groups including Montana Department of Environmental Quality and University of Idaho Extension.
We are excited to continue to provide information and outreach programs about protecting our important water resources. Keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming events in your area and learn about some changes to our office in this iutah article.
Past Events
Bear River Celebration 2016 a Success
Despite the rain, many people from northern Utah came to participate in this event. Families learned about water quality monitoring, how to tie fishing flies, urban conservation and much more. The Bear River Celebration was held in conjunction with free fishing day. Click below to learn about the Community Mapping Activity, an interactive memory-sharing experience introduced to the BRC this year!
Utah Water Week!
May 1- May7, celebrate Utah Water Week! We will be compiling a snapshot of Utah's waters from data collected by Utah Water Watch volunteers. Check out our event page to learn more and find data from previous. Interested in becoming a UWW volunteer, learn more about getting involved. We will be kicking off the week with a volunteer training event on April 30th.
No Dumping, Drains to River
On Saturday, October 10th, a group of students led by Arthur Wallis, Water Quality Extension Intern, painted stencils around stormdrains on USU Campus as a reminder that they are connected to the rivers. The project was started over concerns about what was being dumped around campus. The pollutants drain into our local rivers and streams and cause water quality problems that affect drinking water and wildlife.
Attention Educators
Ready for Spring? Check out our calendar for upcoming events! Learn how you can participate and learn about your watershed.
We have Utah Water Watch training scheduled starting in April, Streamside Science teacher workshops starting in June and the Bear River Celebration June 11th.