04/04/2022
WE NEED YOU TO HELP PROTECT OUR WATER!
Help Us Test Local Well Water
-Free Zoom Training Starts this Wednesday. Read on...
Hello to Plymouth residents concerned with protecting the quality and availability of our water resources!
The Saltwater Intrusion Task Force, operating under Plymouth’s MVP (Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness) action grant, is looking for volunteers to assist with data collection to assess saltwater intrusion conditions in Plymouth’s sole source aquifer.
This citizen science effort involves engaging well owners in coastal areas, requesting access to sample their wells, and gathering groundwater samples. Your volunteer energies can be applied to a number of facets of the project, including:
• Contacting well owners to explain the project and request well access;
• Collecting samples and measuring groundwater elevations in select wells;
• Managing the data collected during sampling;
• Assisting in the lab to analyze water samples for salinity.
Our volunteer recruitment begins with a training for reaching out to well owners.
Once we’ve established our sampling network, specialized trainings will be offered to volunteers interested in the actual data collection, data management and lab measurements.
If you like “getting out there”, meeting people, explaining how we can all help to protect Plymouth’s groundwater – and if you want to help advance this citizen science effort – we request that you sign up for our first volunteer training:
TALKING POINT TRAINING
Where: Online, on zoom (see links at bottom)
When: Choose between Wednesday APRIL 6 or Sunday APRIL 10 . The training is expected to last for 1-1/4 hours.
What: You will get an overview of the program and familiarize yourself with the “talking points” that you’ll use to explain why we are doing this sampling and what we are asking of them.
For those of you who want to get involved “hands on”, we ask that you also participate (about a month later) in our in-person technical training:
DATA COLLECTION TRAINING
Where: In person at 158 Center Hill Road, Plymouth.
When: Sunday MAY 7 .
The training will last for about 3 hours.
What: The training will:
a. Familiarize you with the sampling/measurement equipment
b. Teach you how to use the equipment in the field;
c. Allow you to practice accessing wells to measure groundwater water levels
Once you are registered, additional materials including pamphlets and links to YouTube videos will be provided for you to look over on your own time.
Then it’s out into the field, so to speak. Using pre-selected sites where we expect to find private well owners (all of whom have received letters outlining our project) volunteers will explain the project, fill out survey forms and then arrange to take water samples from spigots and (where access is provided) measure water levels in select private wells.
THE BIG ASK!
Please sign up for these trainings right away by emailing [email protected] or calling 774 773-9982 and leaving a message. Then distribute this information to your members and any friends that might be interested. Please also like and follow our page, “Plymouth SWI Taskforce” to stay abreast of news on the project.
'Talking Point' Training Zoom Link for April 6:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9896300188?pwd=UXlHU3N3ZndqQTVJQ0dyR3dGenpKQT09
Meeting ID: 989 630 0188
Passcode: pine
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
Passcode: 218113
Talking Point Training Zoom Link for April 10:
Time: Apr 10, 2022 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9896300188?pwd=UXlHU3N3ZndqQTVJQ0dyR3dGenpKQT09
Meeting ID: 989 630 0188
Passcode: pine
Dial In
+1 646 558 8656
Meeting ID: 989 630 0188
Passcode: 218113
