FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:  July 24, 2007

Headline: Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Announce the 2007 Awards for outstanding service in water quality monitoring. 

On July 21, 2007, Virginia  for Water Quality announced the 2007 Awards at their annual Summit in Charlottesville, Virginia.  These awards were given to one recipient in the Individual Award category, one recipient in the Public Servant category, and three recipient in the Organization Category.  The awards recognize each recipient for outstanding contribution to their organization’s efforts to promote citizen involvement in watershed protection.  (A list of recipients and their accomplishments is attached.)

The award ceremony was a part of a day-long Summit held by Virginia Citizens for Water Quality, geared towards serving watershed organizations by providing a venue for technology and information transfer and networking.  The keynote address was provided by the Honorable Preston Bryant, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources. 

Virginia Citizens for Water Quality (VCWQ) is a statewide consortium of citizen groups interested in preserving and enhancing the water resources in Virginia. VCWQ advocates for clean water in all regions of the state, from the estuaries and inlets of the Chesapeake to the mountain streams of the Appalachian range, in a manner that includes all parties interested in clean water.

The 2007 Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Summit was sponsored by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the Virginia Environmental Endowment, the Virginia Division of the Izaak Walton League, Virginia Save Our Streams Program, and an anonymous donor.

More information about the 2007 Summit and Virginia Citizens for Water Quality can be found at www.virginiacwq.org.

2007 Virginia Citizens for Water Quality Award

Individual Category

Wes Jargowski, Roanoke Valley Volunteer

Wes Jargowski is a volunteer water quality monitor and a Virginia Save Our Streams regional trainer and coordinator.  He has worked hard to coordinate and organize volunteer water quality monitors and monitoring sites in the Roanoke Valley for the past several years, while still monitoring his own sites.  Wes has worked cooperatively with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s regional office and has trained and certified several of their employees to serve as volunteer water quality monitors.  He is always on the lookout for new partnerships and is beginning to work with the local Trout Unlimited chapter and the Smith Mountain Lake Association.

Public Servant Category

Tony Pane, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

 Tony has been a volunteer water quality monitoring leader in southwest Virginia for years.  He is the Soil and Water Conservation District Coordinator in the Upper Tennessee & Big Sandy watersheds for the VA Dept. Conservation and Recreation.  In the past year Tony has provided many volunteer monitoring training and certification sessions and has provided monitoring demonstrations for the local Soil and Water Conservation Districts's Kids in the Creek Days.  Tony has also worked with a local community college (Southwest CC) to develop a series of short courses designed to teach students various components of water quality monitoring.  Tony serves as a mentor and advisor to several of the new agency staff, Soil and Water Conservation staff, and other conservation organizations. Last year, Tony donated several original pen and ink drawings to UTRR and SWCD's for use in fundraising purposes. 

Organization Category

Loudoun Watershed Watch/Catoctin Watershed TMDL Project

http://www.loudounwatershedwatch.org/catoctin 

During the past three years over a dozen citizen volunteers have collected more than 500 water samples for bacterial analysis in order to help monitor and assess the on-going progress of the TMDL implementation on Catoctin watershed in Loudoun County.  Using the Easy-gel method, samples are collected at 12 location in the 90-sq mile watershed every two weeks.  Data collected do not indicate any significant reduction in E. Coli in the creeks.  Higher stream flows (storm events) generally exhibit increased bacteria levels.  Data and maps are posted on-line.  Monitoring supplies have been funded through several DEQ and Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund grants.

McClure River Restoration Project

http://www.lpswcd.org/MRRP/MRRP.htm 

The McClure River Restoration Project's bacteria monitoring program is the most successful program in southwest Virginia.  Over 100 local students and teachers collect data every month that is used by DEQ to determine the health of the McClure watershed.  With help from the McClure River Kiwanis Club, the bacteria monitoring program has grown fom monitoring five sites and partnering with one class of fourteen high school students, to monitoring fifteen sites and partnering with seven classes from two high schools in Dickenson County.  It is the hope that participation in the MRRP will help motivate and inspire youth to make a difference in their environment.  In addition, the MRRP hopes to show adults and natural resource agencies that average citizens can conduct sound fieldwork and are important, if not crucial, partners in the effort to protect and conserve our natural resources.

NEST (Neighborhood Ecological Stewardship Training) Program

http://mason.gmu.edu/~jcornell/NEST 

The NEST (Neighborhood Ecological Stewardship Training) program is a series of adult education programs designed to increase participants' connection to their local environment and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The program introduces participants to watershed and stream ecology, soil, and native and invasive plants. Through the program participants learn about local natural resources and the impacts of human activity on those resources. A large component of the NEST program focuses on water resources and the importance of protection and maintaining water quality. The NEST program educates participants about local environmental stewardship opportunities including stream monitoring and invasive plant management. The NEST program has significantly contributed to water quality in Virginia. The program helps people understand and develop a strong appreciation of the value of healthy water resources which are vital for wildlife, drinking water, and recreation. NEST provides people the opportunity to experience and learn more about their community and its environmental resources through recreational, educational and stewardship activities.  This in turn creates a sense of place and strong connection between people, their community, and the natural world.