The Bitterroot River Protection Association has announced the inauguration of the Bitterroot River Health Check program, a water quality monitoring program which aims to build a network of sampling stations along the Bitterroot River and a few tributaries that would be monitored for water quality in perpetuity.
“The goal of the Bitterroot River Health Check program is a simple one,” said Ira Holt, BRPA President. “Regular check-ups are the foundation for good health care. Just as our own regular health care check-ups offer the opportunity for preventive actions to be taken, and afford a jump start on any treatments needed by providing an early diagnosis, the same holds true for our river.”
According to Holt, the last concerted efforts at monitoring the water quality of the Bitterroot River ended about a decade ago. “That’s a long time to go without a check-up,” he said. “But those efforts, used as baseline studies, immediately increase the meaningfulness and usefulness of any data we collect today because we have something to compare it to.”
The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) database, at this point, includes a water monitoring project conducted by the Ravalli County Department of Health and Environment from 1995 and a study conducted by the Tri-State Water Quality Council from 1999 to 2006.
BRPA is currently working with officials at DEQ to devise a strategic plan for selection of the most appropriate sites for monitoring stations and establishing a data collection program using “citizen monitors” that will meet the state’s standards.
“We are looking for volunteers who would like to serve as ‘citizen monitors’,” said Holt.
According to Holt, the expenses for the equipment and the laboratory testing will be paid for through grants and donations and all the labor will be done by trained volunteers supervised by BRPA staff.
“DEQ would like to see the management of the volunteers done by a single responsible organization and BRPA will handle that,” said Holt. “BRPA is kicking off the fundraising for the Bitterroot River Health Check program by donating $3,000 to the fund. We are already organizing support from other key organizations and the business community to join with us in the project. Every cent of every donation to the fund goes only to pay for equipment and the cost of laboratory analysis.”
Holt said the first training sessions for prospective ‘citizen monitors’ will take place this fall and, hopefully, the first monitoring will begin in the spring of 2017. Anyone interested in serving as a citizen monitor can contact the Bitterroot River Protection Association at 777-2955 or drop in at 215 Main Street in Stevensville, or call Michael at 239-4838 for details and dates.