“It’s really exciting to see communities stand up and help us,” said Curt Spalding, an Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator. “This is a big move.”
Spalding said there are not enough people to monitor all of the ponds and lakes in Rhode Island and beyond. But ordinary people can help.
People huddled under a tent behind the Warwick Police Department Tuesday morning, while others stood in the rain, protected by umbrellas, listening to the presentation and sometimes interrupting with questions. They included EPA and R.I. Department of Environmental Management officials as well as University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch students and volunteers.
Hilary Snook, a senior scientist with the EPA who works in a lab in Chelmsford, Mass., and covers most of the region, told the gathering about a new mobile application people can download for free on Android and IPhones: bloomWatch.
People near water can take photos of possible algae blooms and upload them to the app. They will add the name of the pond or lake where they took the photo, and more information such as the weather.
The information shared through the app will help scientists, water quality managers, and public health officials who are tracking the blooms, according to an informational sheet about the app.
Algae blooms can be caused by stormwater runoff, for example, and could make the water bright green, as if paint had been spilled in it. If it has cyanobacteria that releases toxins, people could suffer several conditions, from skin rashes to symptoms of Alzheimer's and more, Snook said. If environmentalists confirm the presence of harmful cyanobacteria, the Department of Health issues a closure of recreational activities in those bodies of water.
Through a grant, the EPA was also able to purchase kits with microscopes and other tools that it distributed to volunteers near the water, Snook said.
Volunteers are trained to learn how to collect water samples, and look at them under a microscope. They can then take photos of what they see, and those photos are then shared on a website called INaturalist for the cyanoscope project. On the project's webpage, people can access a map and see photos of the different bacteria that have been found by volunteers.
“This is a great tool,” said Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, adding that there is a dramatic need for testing water in the state.
©2016 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
