ALL HAIL ultra adventure swimmer Jamie Patrick who will attempt the first ever circumnavigation swim around the 68-mile shoreline of Lake Tahoe this weekend.  He's doing it to push himself to his own personal limits, and as a major fundraiser for the Sierra Club Water Sentinels program.  We couldn't be more proud to have Jamie representing clean water and our important work to protect it.  He's an amazing and inspiring individual.

He'll swim away from Commons Beach in Tahoe City at 6 a.m.on Friday and estimates the nonstop swim will take 40-45 hours.  You can follow the event live online at http://www.jamiepatrick.com/#!home/mainPage where you can track his progress, read live blog posts from the crew, write comments and see video of Jamie in action. 

Please help spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Following are two articles, from Scrapbook, and from yesterday's San Jose Mercury News:
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June 06, 2012
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2012/06/endurance-athlete-to-attempt-non-stop-swim-around-lake-tahoe.html

Endurance Athlete to Attempt First-Ever Non-Stop Swim Around Lake Tahoe

Saying Jamie Patrick likes to swim is a little like saying Popeye likes spinach. The San Leandro, Ca., native began swimming at the age of seven and, as he puts it, "I haven't stopped since. Swimming and water are my passion—they've given me so much in life."

An all-American swimmer in high school, Patrick earned a full swimming scholarship to attend the University of Hawaii, and two years after graduating he clocked the 11th-fastest time ever recorded in the English Channel Relay Swim.

By day, Patrick is Sales Manager for Patrick & Co., the oldest office supply company in San Francisco, founded by his great-grandfather in 1873. When he's not in the office—where he is striving, among other things, to green the family business—he's usually with his wife Terry and 6-year-old daughter Grace. But he has also found the time to complete more than 100 triathlons, 15 Ironman competitions, three marathons, and he was named 2011 World Open Water Male Swimmer of the Year.

Patrick has by now swum all over the world, including in New Zealand, Brazil, Italy, Austria, Bermuda, Belize, Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Hawaii, and Tahiti. Closer to home, he recently completed a double crossing of Lake Tahoe—a 44-mile swim that took 25 hours of continuous swimming—and a 111-mile swim down the Sacramento River in northern California, below, that took 31 hours.

"I obviously had to stay up all night to complete those swims," he says, "but there comes a point where I get into a rhythm and push through the pain and the swimming actually gets easier. And there are times when it just gets magical and you really feel you become one with your environment. During the night I spent on the Sacramento, there were river otters swimming all around me, and egrets that seemed to be following me downriver in the moonlight.

"I'm not out primarily to set records," Patrick says, "I'm out for personal journeys." He has also decided to combine his extreme swimming with advocacy for causes he believes in.

His Sacramento River swim attracted more than 40,000 online viewers who followed the swim live through Patrick's website, and the event raised awareness and roughly $25,000 for an elementary school literacy program in Contra Costa County, where Patrick and his family live.

Now Patrick has his sights set on something even more ambitious: a non-stop swim of the 69-mile circumference of Lake Tahoe, a feat that he anticipates will take about 40 hours. To Patrick's knowledge, the undertaking he is calling the Tahoe 360 has never before been attempted, let alone completed.

"I think Tahoe is the most beautiful lake in the world," he says. "So when I was thinking about what cause I could raise money for with the Tahoe 360, clean water was a natural. And when I thought about who does work for clean water, the first thing that popped into my mind was the Sierra Club."

Hopping online, Patrick surfed to the Sierra Club's website and quickly found the Water Sentinels program. "I immediately knew this was the program I wanted to support," he says. "Not only do the Water Sentinels do cleanups, water-quality monitoring, and advocate for clean water, they get kids involved and get people outdoors. If people get out and do their own adventures, they'll be moved to protect the environment."

The Tahoe 360 will commence on August 31 at Tahoe City, on the northwest corner of the lake, and end at the same spot on September 2. Patrick plans to swim about 100 yards from shore, and he'll have a crew of between 15 and 20 people in support—some on the water and some on land—to take care of logistics like navigation, cooking, communication, on-water support, and medical assistance if necessary.

"All water-based support will be human-powered except one boat in case I need medical help," Patrick says. "Land-based support vehicles will all be hybrid or run on alternative fuels, and the University of Nevada at Reno has an electric bus that I hope to use. The crew will be responsible for picking up trash along the route, and all the crew's gear will be made of 100 percent post-consumer waste. We're doing our best to offset or reverse the carbon impacts of the event."

Patrick plans to adorn the support vehicles with Sierra Club banners, use the Water Sentinels logo on his wetsuit and other equipment, and all support crew will wear Water Sentinels t-shirts and caps, which will be available to members of the public at a Sierra Club booth in Tahoe City, as well as from the support vehicles as they circle the lake.

Food for the event will be organic and locally-sourced to the greatest extent possible, and Patrick will not get out of the water or stop swimming even to eat—he plans to stop and tread water every 20 minutes or so while a support boat pulls up alongside and he takes in a combination of solid food and liquid to keep him going.

As with the Sacramento River swim, viewers will be able to follow the Tahoe 360 through a live portal on Patrick's personal website and his Facebook site and make donations directly to the Water Sentinels program while they watch. Patrick stresses that every penny raised by the Tahoe 360 will go to the Water Sentinels program.

Between now and August 31, you can follow Patrick's blog as he trains and prepares for the Tahoe 360.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21429969/lafayette-swimmer-jamie-patrick-make-68-mile-trip

Lafayette swimmer Jamie Patrick to make 68-mile trip around Lake Tahoe Friday and Saturday
By Lou Fancher
Correspondent
Posted:   08/29/2012 05:52:03 PM PDT
Updated:   08/29/2012 07:00:13 PM PDT

To kick off his Labor Day weekend, Lafayette's Jamie Patrick is taking a 360-degree spin around Lake Tahoe, in Lake Tahoe.

Last year, the now-41-year old athlete swept down the Sacramento River on a 111-mile swimming trek. The year before, it was back-and-forth-and-back across Tahoe. And recently, he swam from Spain to Africa, then came home to spend 12-hour overnights, training in Lafayette's Springbrook pool.

You could call him fond of water.

Which is why he's pairing up with the Sierra Club's Water Sentinel Program.

"In the previous swims, I raised money for Buena Vista, a local literacy program," Patrick said. "For this swim, I wanted to do something for water. It's so right up my alley; they help people get out, enjoy water, and want to take care of it."

A graduate of Miramonte High School and an All-American swimmer while at the University of Hawaii, Patrick has an athletic resume as long as his wingspan.

"I do these things to go beyond what I've done before," he says, shrugging off more complicated reasoning.

He and his 15-person crew have already raised $2,000 in four days since the campaign began. One hundred percent of the donations will go to the Sierra Club.

To make it easy to support his cause, he's partnered with Metabender, an athletic tracking company, to develop a portal through which people can follow his swim in real time GPS, with stats, crew updates, videos and a comment option.

"For my Sac River swim, there were 40,000 people watching me. We're expecting about 50-80,000 between when I start, at 6 a.m. Aug. 31 and finish, sometime on Sunday," he says,

The 68-mile swim, traveling the circumference of the lake and staying no more than 75 meters from the shore, will take him about 40-45 hours.

He'll wear a wetsuit, meaning the swim doesn't qualify as a marathon event -- a point he emphasizes repeatedly during an interview one week before pushing off in the 65-degree chop.

"I've pretty much got my nutrition dialed in. l need 425 calories per hour and the wet suit will keep me buoyant while I feed," he says. "The plan is to be patient. I don't want to go out looking like Michael Phelps, cause when you're four hours in and realize that's only 1/10th of what you'll be doing, that's overwhelming."

To keep his mind buff, Patrick has been working with trainer and fellow open water swimmer Jen Schumaker.

"She helps me overcome the dark places I can go when I swim. Physically, I know it's going to be extreme. When you start to feel good, which comes in waves, you tell your body to go faster, produce too much lactic acid and ... well, then you're gonna' blow," he finishes.

With Outside TV, CBS, and a pair of independent filmmakers following him, Patrick says the pressure to stay balanced will be huge.

The physical training to prepare has been no less challenging. His longest week was 110,000 yards, or about 56 miles worth of lap time. He spends five to six hours in the pool on weekends, and during the week still manages to work as the sales manager for Patrick & Co., the office supply company his great-grandfather began in 1873.

Record setting appears to run in the family, and although he claims it is not his goal, Patrick is thrilled to set an example for the next generation.

"To have my daughter see me start and work hard is a motivation for me," he says.

And post-swim, with the help of an occasional Jelly Belly jelly bean (the one exception to his processed-foods-free diet), Patrick will recover as he always has.

"I'll take a little time out of the water. But then, my juices will get flowing ... "

He won't divulge the next watery wonder, but promises that it will be performed in a familiar land: "Just past discomfort, in a totally new place. That's where I want to be."

Follow the swim
To keep tabs on Jamie Patrick's planned swim around 68-mile swim Friday and Saturday around the circumference of Lake Tahoe, go online to www.theTahoe360.com

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ALL HAIL our Friends of Hackmatack (FOH) partnership who worked diligently for years to see the creation of the new Hackmatack NWR come to fruition.  The new Refuge provides a place to connect people with nature and serves the population centers of Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.

Yesterday, Aug 15, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited Illinois to announce that he has authorized the establishment of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.  He was joined by Senator Dick Durbin, who has been instrumental in assisting with the process.  Also present at the event at Lost Valley Visitors Center at Glacial Park in Ringwood were many stakeholders from Illinois and southern Wisconsin who have been working to make Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge a reality.  The new refuge is part of the Dept of Interior's America's Great Outdoors Initiatives to enhance conservation efforts, foster outdoor recreation opportunities, create jobs, and fuel local economies.

From the over three dozen media articles and FOH press release:

'After eight years of advocacy and planning, the Friends of Hackmatack gathered Wednesday afternoon at Glacial Park for a milestone: the designation of a national wildlife refuge in northeastern McHenry County and southeastern Wisconsin.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced federal designation of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, the first and only refuge in northern Illinois. The 11,000-acre refuge straddles McHenry County and Walworth County, Wis.

Salazar said creating the refuge was “really a local, ground-up conservation initiative that we’re so proud to be a part of.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and representatives of federal and local agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the McHenry County Conservation District, attended the announcement.

Echoing Salazar, Durbin said it’s always in the nation’s best interest to preserve and protect for future generations the “beautiful panorama that God has left for us.”

Durbin also thanked U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, his GOP colleague, for support leading to Wednesday’s designation.

“When it comes to Hackmatack, it’s bipartisan,” Durbin, a Democrat, said.

“Friends of Hackmatack presented the case that the glacial landscape along the IllinoisWisconsin border is a very special place,” said Cindy Skrukrud, Solon Mills, Illinois resident and Clean Water Advocate for the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Now the scenic beauty and wildlife habitat of our oak savannas, rare tallgrass prairie and the high quality Nippersink Creek have been recognized on the countrywide stage.”'
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http://www.nwherald.com/2012/08/15/hackmatack-wildlife-refuge-becomes-reality/at2y737/
Hackmatack Wildlife Refuge becomes reality
By JANE HUH - jhuh@shawmedia.com
Created: Thursday, August 16, 2012 

ALL HAIL Tennessee's Watauga Group and its Sentinels for saving 8,600-acres of Doe Mountain from planned clear-cutting.  It is now one of Tennessee's largest properties in their state park system.

The HUGE win protects much of the watershed of Watauga Lake, one of the most pristine Appalachian lakes in the TVA system, and protects Doe Creek, a critical trout fishery feeding the lake.  Special thanks to Dennis Shekinah, Gabby Lynch and WG Chair Gloria Griffith for their vital roles in the effort.

Scrapbook's Tom Valtin and WG's Dennis Skekinah (in his own words) tell the story.
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http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2012/08/saving-doe-mountain.html
August 03, 2012
Saving Doe Mountain

Late this spring, the Sierra Club's Watauga Group celebrated a big victory when 8,600 acres of Doe Mountain, in the state's northeastern corner, was officially saved from clear-cutting and exclusive private development.

"This is a huge win, and it protects a significant portion of our Watauga Watershed," says Gloria Griffith, chair of the Watauga Group.

Among the top priorities of the Watauga Group (the Tennessee Sierra Club's newest group) has been protecting water quality in Doe Creek, a spring-fed creek that runs around Doe Mountain. Doe Creek supports an exceptional wild rainbow trout population and some of the largest fish sampled in Tennessee streams in recent years.

The creek flows then into Watauga Lake, a Tennesee Valley Authority reservoir that sits 1,959 feet above sea level and is known for its exceptionally clean water. TVA describes the lake as being located "...in some of the most beautiful country in the Tennessee River watershed."

Thanks to the heads-up work of Watauga Group activists, notably Gabby Lynch and Dennis Shekinah, Doe Mountain will remain forested and open to the public.

Let's let Dennis tell the story (which appeared in the June/July issue of the Tennessee Chapter's newsletter, the Tenne-Sierran):

Doe Mountain encompasses 8,600 acres of wilderness known best by hunters on foot and Tennessee Wildlife Research Agency officers in 4-wheel-drive vehicles. It is home to black bear, white tail, fox, coyote, turkey, king squirrel, bobcat and, some say, cougar.

Left alone for generations, this slice of heaven is about to change. Soon, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), horses, mountain bikes, and hikers from all corners will be drawn to Doe, altering its timeless and peaceful character forever. Let me explain why this is a good thing...

My log cabin (below), built in the 1920s, sits in the shade of Doe Mountain in Neva Valley. In fields where the Cherokee once lived, I have hosted countless bluegrass gatherings, raised children, and planted seeds in the fertile soil. In all the years I explored the Doe's trails, I can only recall coming across two other people. They were both hunters and as nice as they could be. Doe Mountain was a well-kept secret, hidden smack dab in the middle of Johnson County, Tennessee.

Then one morning the sound of chain saws broke the peaceful melody of the East Fork Fall Brach. The dogs kept up as I literally ran into the sanctuary. I found a group of men clearing the jeep trail and setting a metal gate across its path. They seemed nice, but busy. I left them to their job and returned to my cabin and started working the phone. A developer had purchased Doe Mountain to build a gated community. Gates on all access points were a statement to his strict 'no trespassing' policy. No more hunting. No more quiet walks with my camera on Doe.

It turned out the deed for the mountain changed hands several times when the state didn't opt to renew the Wilderness Management Area lease from the original owners. A logging company owned it for less than a month before the developer laid enough easy money on the table to get them to sell. A gated community can yield millions of dollars in profit; indeed, he had done it many times before.

After resigning myself to the inevitable march of progress, I said a prayer for the black bear and all the critters who would eventually be displaced by manicured lawns and electrified fences. Then two things changed everything: the housing bubble burst and the developer died from a massive coronary. The Doe Mountain gated community project, named "Daniel's Trace," went into bankruptcy. No one seemed to know who owned the mountain or what its fate would be.

Months passed without any news, save rumor and speculation. Then one morning the phone rang and Larry Potter,, our county mayor, asked, "Dennis, do you know anyone with eight million dollars?" Larry owns a small eatery in Doe Valley, and he had overheard a logger proclaim that he was going to clear-cut Doe Mountain. Yes, like a shark sensing blood in the water, the logging company was putting a bid on the deed and had already done an assessment of the lumber's worth.

Larry was desperate. Not only is he a fly-fisherman (and thus a clean-water advocate by default), he is passionate about Johnson County's economic development. An 8,600-acre scar in the middle of our county wasn't going to bring in the tourists.

Our closest neighbor to the north, Damascus, Virginia, had already saved itself from potential ruin by developing a bicycle-friendly trail system. Johnson County could do it one better, Larry thought. We have Watauga Lake, the Appalachian Trail, and a network of great B&Bs and small family-owned restaurants. We just needed a hook to pull in outdoor enthusiasts. That was Doe Mountain, Larry rightfully reasoned.

But the sharks were circling. "I'll make some calls," I told Larry. I immediately got ahold of my friend Gabby Lynch, a Watauga Group activist who works forThe Nature Conservancy (TNC).

True to form, Gabby was already on the Doe Mountain situation. In short order, an environmental assessment was done and she applied for a loan from TNC international headquarters. Larry worked his network of state representatives (most notably Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey). Gabby asked that we send letters of thanks and encouragement for Ramsey's efforts to secure funding for saving Doe Mountain. Still, months passed without any news…

At our monthly Watauga Group meetings, Gabby would place her finger over her lips and shake her head: "Don't say a word." We had no reason to feel overly hopeful in this age of budgetary austerity. The Nature Conservancy had many worthy projects that needed funding, and newly-elected Governor Bill Haslam was slashing budgets. Somehow, Larry got the governor in an ATV and took him, along with the lieutenant governor, along the trails of the Doe.

Soon thereafter, Gabby announced that The Nature Conservancy had approved the loan to save Doe Mountain, and the great state of Tennessee arranged to immediately buy Doe from TNC. A "multi-use" provision would be attached as a condition, assuring that the mountain would be developed to offer all citizens a chance to know a little of the peace that comes from nature even if they were looking out from the top of a horse, a wheelchair, a bicycle or a caravan of ATVs.

We may never know all the players who made this deal possible, but as I look out my window at beautiful Doe Mountain, I give thanks—a heartfelt prayer of thanks raised up join those of all the wildlife and trees that depend on good people doing the right thing.

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ALL HAIL our Missouri Sentinels for continuing a 15-year winning battle to ID and document the state's polluted waterways, adding hundreds of waters to the EPA-mandated 'impaired waters' list (303d).  This progress has happened because of citizen action via data collection and dissemination, administrative advocacy and litigation. 

While it may seem like a counterintuitive victory to see more waters listed as polluted, in fact, getting them documented and listed as polluted is the only trigger in federal law to force the creation of federally approved cleanup plans to mandate how to fix the pollution problem(s).

Missouri's raw numbers...

1996  -  66 water bodies listed
2012  -  342 water bodies listed
2012  -  88 other water bodies de-listed because cleanup plans are now in place

From the local Columbia Missourian article:

'Eleven streams and two lakes in Boone County are included in a proposed list of impaired water for 2012 first compiled by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, then revised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The number of Boone County water bodies on the 2012 list, which is subject to 60 days of public comment before becoming final, is nearly double the seven that were included on the 2011 report. The annual list is used to determine which bodies of water fail to meet standards set by the federal Clean Water Act and is required by Section 303(d)(2) of the act. It is often referred to as the 303(d) list.

The EPA list shows 342 bodies of water as impaired; 88 water bodies that were previously listed have been removed. The Natural Resources Department's suggestion that 11 other water bodies be taken off the list was rejected.

Hinkson Creek, which begins in northwestern Boone County and flows through the city of Columbia on its way to Perche Creek, remains on the list from previous years and has been the subject of years of negotiations by the city, the county, MU, the Natural Resources Department and the EPA about how best to mitigate pollution.

An 18-mile stretch of Hinkson Creek is on the list for being contaminated with E. coli, which makes it unsafe for whole body contact. Ken Midkiff, chair of the Missouri Clean Water Campaign and conservation chair of the Osage Chapter of the Sierra Club, takes issue with how the city has alerted the public about the pollution.

"It is a travesty that the general public is unaware of water bodies unsuitable for whole body contact," Midkiff wrote in an email. "The Boone County/Columbia Health Department places signs along Flat Branch informing the public of the dangers of contact. No such warnings are placed on Hinkson Creek."

State and federal laws do not require warnings about whole body contact and water quality, Midkiff said, but public health laws "require that the public be informed of health hazards."

"Contacting water that has high levels of harmful bacteria constitutes a public health hazard," Midkiff said.

Cedar Creek, which forms the boundary with Callaway County, was the only Boone County stream listed for lacking sufficient macroinvertebrates.

"Those things are the bottom of the food chain, and larger invertebrates eat them," Midkiff said. "If they're not there, the larger organisms don't fare very well."

A lack of macroinvertebrates in water could happen for many reasons, including pollution or something as simple as a change in water temperature, Midkiff said.

Midkiff noted a surge in the number of impaired streams and lakes included on the list. In 1996, he said, 66 water bodies were on the list, compared with 342 this time around.

"Whether this is due to a decline in water quality, increased reporting and testing, or a combination of the two is unknown," Midkiff said.'
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http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2012/07/15/epa-releases-list-impaired-water-bodies-missouri-public-comment/
EPA's Missouri list of impaired water bodies released for comment
Sunday, July 15, 2012
BY Dak Dillon

ALL HAIL our New Mexico Sentinels Rios de Taos and ally Amigos Bravos for using our volunteer water quality data and public comment to get two polluted waterways added to the state's list of federally-identified impaired waters.  Their listings trigger that federally-approved cleanup plans must be written.  Under the Clean Water Act, you have to take a step back to move two steps forward. 

From the Taos News article:

'Water sampling by two local groups has found E. coli, ammonia, dissolved oxygen and conductivity exceeds water quality standards in the Río Fernándo and Río Pueblo de Taos, leading to impairment listings for both rivers.

Amigos Bravos and the Water Sentinels sampled surface water quality at 17 sites between May and September 2011.

“On all three sampling dates there were sites in both the Río Fernándo and Río Pueblo de Taos that did not meet standards for dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity,” a sampling report states.

Water Sentinels organizer Eric Patterson said the testing began about five years ago and is continuing to expand. He said he likes to fish and grows organic vegetables, so like many others in the county he feels particularly connected to the water.

“We use that water, we need that water, and we need it clean,” he said. “Water is important culturally and economically.”

Amigos Bravos Projects Director Rachel Conn said dissolved oxygen impairment is caused by an excess of nutrients in the water and can lead to large algae blooms. She said algae put oxygen into the water during the day but that there is a “drastic bottoming out” of oxygen levels at night; if levels get too low, fish aren’t able to breathe.

The testing has led to the state Environment Department and Environmental Protection Agency’s acknowledging that impairments exist and the addition of the Río Fernándo and Río Pueblo to the state’s 303(d) list of impaired waters, required under the Clean Water Act. Conn said the listing can help bring funding to address the rivers.

“Our sampling results have led to the listing of the Río Fernándo de Taos as impaired for E. coli and (dissolved oxygen); the Río Pueblo de Taos as impaired for E. coli in the upper portion; and the unnamed perennial arroyo that flows below the wastewater treatment plant as impaired for ammonia and (dissolved oxygen),” Conn wrote.

“Once streams are listed as impaired for certain parameters, federal funding becomes available for watershed planning and restoration projects.”'
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http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_1399ba88-c61b-11e1-87ca-0019bb2963f4.html
Taos News
Posted: Friday, July 6, 2012 12:00 am
Matthew van Buren
Two Taos rivers on list of impaired waters

ALL HAIL our Illinois River Prairie Group Sentinels for 12 years of diligent stewardship of the branches of the DuPage River.  They have been a model of due diligence, as reflected in their most recent public report - "As the River Flows" - that documents that the DuPage is getting better, but still needs our work to become a truly healthy waterway, fishery and community amenity.

From the article:

'While DuPage County’s most important waterways are healthier than they were 12 years ago, more work is needed to improve water quality, according to a new report by a local Sierra Club group.
The River Prairie Group’s report, “As the River Flows,” documents the progress that’s been made since volunteers started monitoring the East and West branches of the DuPage River as well as Salt Creek.

The river monitoring project has been ongoing since 2000.

“They (the waterways) are all improving,” said Tom Richardson, who serves on the River Prairie Group’s executive committee. “Yet there are still challenges.”

Richardson said those challenges are inherent to the waterways being in an urbanized area.

River Prairie Group members presented information about the report during Tuesday’s DuPage County Board meeting. Connie Schmidt, who serves on the group’s executive committee, said county leaders need to be aware of the data.

“With your leadership, we can continue to improve the quality of the stream,” Schmidt said.'
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http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120725/news/707259953/
Article updated: 7/25/2012
By Robert Sanchez
DuPage rivers good, could be better, report says

ALL HAIL our San Pedro Sentinels in Arizona for keeping a watchful eye on the river, a critical flyway and habitat for many migratory birds and other critters.  The San Pedro Water Sentinels also partner on a regular basis with the Friends of the San Pedro River to do clean-ups along the river, which usually draw in 30 to 50 volunteers per event.

From the Sierra Vista Herald article:

'A group of local volunteers performing water quality tests on the San Pedro River got their feet wet for the first time this summer during a monitoring trip on Thursday and will be at it again soon.

The San Pedro Water Sentinels are ramping up their activities for the next few months to help shed light on how low flows at the beginning of the summer and the subsequent monsoon impact the level of E. coli  bacteria in the San Pedro River, said Steve Pawlowski, Sierra Club Water Sentinels program coordinator. While the group usually does monitoring trips on quarterly basis, they will be doing a couple extra ones to see if there is a repeat of unusually high E. coli counts found at three sites in September last year.

“We had a few violations of the applicable water quality standard for bacteria at three of our sites .. So we’re curious what’s going to happen here this summer,” Pawlowski said. These three sites, located near the San Pedro House, Charleston Road bridge and Fairbank Historic Townsite, all showed a lot of sediment in the river at the time of sampling.

Since the local sentinels group started in 2011, it has typically conducted monitoring trips on a quarterly basis, four times a year, Pawlowski said. This summer they are making two extra trips, one in July and one in September.

On these trips the team measures several traits of the water but E. Coli is the primary interest, as samples are collected and transported to Tucson for testing, Pawlowski said. At the site near Murray Springs they also do some well monitoring because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is interested in the groundwater levels. The sentinels share all their data with BLM.

The group also partners with the Friends of the San Pedro River to do clean-ups at the river, which usually draw in 30 to 50 volunteers, Pawlowski said. For the monitoring trips they really only need about 10 to 15.
“I’ve found it quite enjoyable, it gives me a chance to get out and take a walk, it also gives you a  feeling that you’re doing something that will help others,” (Durch) Nagle said.

Pawlowski said they hope to continue growing the local group so they can get more people engaged with the river, he said. “It’s a great way to connect to the river, get outside and do something that is useful.”'
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http://173.201.176.156/content/news/2012/06/29/272237
The Sierra Vista Herald/Review
Water Sentinels study impact of monsoon on river
06/29/2012
ADAM CURTIS
Herald/Review

ALL HAIL our Illinois Clean Water Crew and our allies - most notably the state's Attorney General - for a five-year battle to defeat the proposed Banner Coal Mine.  The proposed mine would have imperiled municipal drinking water supplies, critical habitat and endangered species.  A HUGE win !!

From the local Canton Ledger,  one of a plethora of statewide media hits:

'The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) on July 19 rejected a surface mining permit for the proposed Banner coal mine, which was slated for land located next to the village of Banner, between Rice Lake and Banner Marsh.

The permit would have allowed strip mining on a triangle-shaped site adjoining Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area along U.S. Route 24, which is part of the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway, and Copperas Creek and the Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area.

The proposed mining on more than 600 acres of predominantly Illinois River floodplain would have threatened residents’ drinking water supplies and the structural integrity of the village of Banner’s sewage treatment plant, located at the apex of the triangle, a press release from the Illinois Chapter Sierra Club said.

Both Banner Marsh and Rice Lake are internationally recognized as Globally Important Bird Areas. Drinking water supplies, nesting osprey, a historic bald eagle roost, the federally-threatened Decurrent False Aster and habitat for the state-endangered short-eared owl were all at risk, the press release said.

In 2007, local citizens, including members of Citizens for the Preservation of Banner Township and Save Rice Lake Area Association, and the Sierra Club filed for a review of the mining permit. The Illinois Attorney General joined these groups in challenging the proposed mine.

“IDNR’s final denial of this permit hopefully heralds a new chapter in how our state sites new mines,” said Cindy Skrukrud, clean water advocate, Illinois Chapter, Sierra Club. “It is my hope that in future mining issues the IDNR will heed concerns raised by ordinary citizens earlier in the review process. Our common goal, as illustrated by this permit denial, is to ensure our precious water resources and communities are protected.”'
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http://www.cantondailyledger.com/topstories/x1629581792/IDNR-rejects-permit-for-Banner-mine
IDNR rejects permit for Banner mine
Canton Daily Ledger
Posted Jul 31, 2012 @ 10:11 AM

ALL HAIL Michigan Sentinel Rita Chapman for her turn in this LA Times article on the polluted legacy of the massive Enbridge tar sands crude oil spill into the Kalamazoo River two years ago.

From the article:

'Life has returned here, and it hasn't.

The water in Talmadge Creek runs clear now, and small schools of minnows shoot after each other, ducking behind creek rocks that seem too awkwardly settled to have been placed there by nature.

That's because they weren't. In the two years since one of the worst inland oil spills in U.S. history — when a pipeline break in a nearby marsh sent 819,000 gallons of toxic sludge sliding into the Talmadge and then down more than 30 miles of the Kalamazoo River — cleanup workers have dredged and rebuilt this creek from the bottom.

Now, Talmadge Creek is slowly headed back to normal, insomuch as normal is possible. The same could be said for the human ecosystem and the empty homes still surrounding the spill area.

The disaster itself was overshadowed by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that same summer, but it offers lessons for other communities and for other pipeline companies eager to tap Canada's lucrative oil sands market for American dollars.

At the end of June, a week after officials reopened the Kalamazoo River, the Michigan Department of Community Health lifted a do-not-eat order for fish caught in the affected stretch of the river, ending a two-year moratorium. The department says the remaining oil doesn't pose any long-termcancer or health risks other than a little skin irritation if touched.

But Rita Chapman, who monitors clean-water issues for the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club, disagreed with the reopening of the river.

"They say that only 40 miles of the river was affected," she said. "But do we know that? The Kalamazoo flows roughly 80 miles to Lake Michigan, and Lake Michigan provides drinking water for millions of people."

An Enbridge spokesman said oil cleanup kiosks had been installed along the river and that cleanup would continue.

But a short-term study isn't enough for Susan Connolly, a local resident concerned about the spill's long-term impact. She turned health advocate after her children, 2 and 4 at the time, started throwing up and developing rashes when the spill hit less than a mile from their day-care center. She's been advocating for a long-term study on the health effects of diluted bitumen but hasn't gotten one yet.

"This type of spill has never happened before. People have not been exposed to these concentrations of tar sands before," Connolly said.

She added, "I hope other communities will learn how we've been impacted here in Michigan. There will be other spills. It's not a matter of if, but when."'
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-michigan-spill-20120729,0,7317140,full.story
HOMETOWN U.S.A.: MARSHALL, MICH.
Two years after oil spill, town and its creek are reshaped
Many people didn't even know there was an oil pipeline running through their town. Then a break in a nearby marsh released over 800,000 gallons of toxic sludge.
By Matt Pearce, Special to the Los Angeles Times
July 29, 2012

ALL HAIL the new New York Water Sentinels who are gathering baseline water quality data before natural gas fracking invades their part of the state.  Around 120 new volunteers were recently trained across the 'southern tier' counties in a collaboration between the Beyond Natural Gas (BNG) campaign, Water Sentinels and ally ALLARM.  If (when) the frackers show up there, we'll be ready and armed with data.

Special thanks for helping to make it happen go to BNG director Deb Nardone, BNG chairs Kate Bartholomew & Gusti Bogok, ALLARM director Julie Vastine, and Atlantic Chapter volunteers Arthur Kuypers, Geri Arid (and quoted) Jessica Helm, Kathy Cronin & Scott Lauffer.

From the NPR piece:

'On a humid Wednesday in July, Kathy Cronin crouched in Pierce Creek in the City of Binghamton. The creek empties into the Susquehanna River just upstream from the city's water treatment plant.

Houses line the creek banks and the sounds of the freeway drown out the urban waterway's churn.

Cronin, who lives in Binghamton, dipped a small, electronic meter into the water.  Another local resident, Scott Lauffer, stands just downstream, waiting to hear Cronin read off results.

“Alright, we got a conductivity reading of 435 and a total dissolved solid reading of 210 and we record that on our data sheet,” says Lauffer.

They are measuring those two indicators - conductivity and total dissolved solids – because if they rise dramatically the stream is probably contaminated with fracking wastewater.

According to Lauffer, if those numbers triple, that amounts to a problem.

Right now, high-volume hydraulic fracturing still has not come to this watershed.

Lauffer and Cronin are collecting baseline data as part of the Sierra Club’s Water Sentinels program. Without measurements before drilling starts, it will be difficult to connect pollution to a new well. The goal of the monitors is to collect a year’s worth of readings before any wells are drilled nearby.

“And we want to be able to say to them this stream always looked like this before you came and now it looks like this. There is no precedent for that,” says Cronin.

If this monitoring shows raised levels from drilling, they will send samples for detailed testing to a lab like the Ithaca-based non-profit Community Science Institute, which has started its own water monitoring efforts.

The monitoring that scores of volunteers can do is impossible for the Department of Environmental Conservation to keep up with.

“So the DEC, if it were working at perfect capacity, it still wouldn’t be able to cover all of the watersheds we have in New York State,” says Jessica Helm, with the Sierra Club.

And the DEC appears to be working at far-from-perfect capacity. The agency’s has lost a fifth of its workers since 2008 due to budget cuts and attrition. Also, according to a report by the environmental group Earthworks, the agency’s travel budgets have been cut and three-quarters of the state’s existing wells are left uninspected each year.

For volunteers like Kathy Cronin, that history is not a good omen for how the DEC might handle hydrofracking.'

______________________________________________

http://www.nynow.org/post/water-monitors-prepare-fracking-new-york
Water monitors prepare for fracking in New York
By Matt Richmond

ALL HAIL Idaho's Middle Snake Group who recently trained 13 new Sentinels volunteers to gather baseline data before the opening of a proposed copper and molybdenum mine in the Boise River watershed.  Jackson Peak, site of the proposed CuMo mine northeast of Boise, is projected to contain $96 billion in recoverable metals.  So, while we won't likely be able to stop the mine, we'll be loaded with background data to prove its impacts when (not if) they pollute the watershed.

Special thanks to MSG staffer Katie Swanson, and MSG Water Sentinels Intern Brian Himes, for their invaluable help in organizing and helping conduct the training.  Your hospitality and professionalism is greatly appreciated!

And special thanks to Idaho Chapter Chair Edwina Allen who turned the local celebration of her 2011 William Colby Award - that annually honors a single volunteer who has an outstanding record of leadership, dedication, and service to the Sierra Club - into a silent auction fundraiser to help launch the MSG Water Sentinels project.  Congratulations on over 40 years, and counting, of outstanding service Edwina!!

Brian's article in the MSG News follows:
_______________________________

http://idaho.sierraclub.org/middlesnake
Middle Snake Group News
Spring 2012

WATER SENTINELS
By Brian Himes

2012 marks the beginning of the Water Sentinels program in the Boise River Watershed.  The Water Sentinels is a National Sierra Club program that has had success in communities across the country in keeping water clean and holding polluter accountable.

Beginning with a training on June 2nd, committed volunteers will be monitoring the water quality in the Upper Boise River Watershed around the proposed CuMO mine site.  The CuMo mine will be an open pit mine in Grimes Creek northwest of Idaho City.  The tailings will be stored on site creating an opportunity for significant pollution of the Boise River Watershed,  This program intends to keep the mining company accountable for any pollution of the Boise River where much of the drinking water for the Treasure Valley comes from.

Volunteers are needed to commit to sampling Grimes Creek in specific locations at certain times every year.  This is a great opportunity to get involved protecting your environment and have fun hiking/skiing/snowshoeing at the same time!

For more information on the National Water Sentinels program: http://www.sierraclub.org/watersentinels

If you are interested in volunteering or just want to know more about the Water Sentinels program here in Boise, contact Water Sentinels Intern Brian Himes at brianhimes@u.boisestate.edu

-------------------

ALL HAIL the Florida Water Sentinels for some great pre-event publicity on their upcoming volunteer Water Sentinels training.

From the article in the Bradenton Times:

'The Sierra Club has picked the Manatee-Sarasota area as the first location in Florida for a program that will train volunteers to test the quality of local bodies of water.

The club's "Water Sentinels Program" is expected to debut July 14 and already has attracted about 30 volunteers who hope to learn to accurately test water quality, according to Cris Costello, the club's regional organizing representative.

The venerable environmental organization plans to train people to monitor areas near, for example, Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC's Wingate Creek phosphate mine, and a recently-approved mine extension near Duette.

The mines sit near the headwaters of the Myakka River, whose lower portion has been designated among the state's "Outstanding Florida Waters," because of its lush flora and fauna.

"We're starting it here because my office happens to be in Sarasota County," explained Costello Wednesday. "We intend to take this program all across the state; we're starting small to work the bugs out.

"Those training as "Water Sentinels" will join 13,000 others in 22 states, according to the national SierraClub website. Volunteers, who do not have to be club members, monitor approximately 48,000 square miles of watersheds across the U.S. that are home to 184 million Americans, the website said.

By the end of the year, Costello hopes to provide training across Florida, she said.

She has already contacted the Manatee County Natural Resources Department, the county Health Department, and state environmental protection officials, Costello said, adding the responses have been "absolutely positive."

Sierra Club trainer Tim Guilfoile is slated to lead classes; the club plans to contract with a local lab to evaluate sample results, Costello said.'
_____________________________________________________________________

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/06/21/4085975/sierra-club-water-quality-testing.html
Sierra Club water quality testing to debut in Manatee/Sarasota
Bradenton Herald
Published: June 21, 2012
By SARA KENNEDY  

ALL HAIL Eric Patterson and our Sentinels Rios de Taos who teamed up this again spring with the Enchanted Circle Chapter of Trout Unlimited (ECTU) to co-host some great events in northern New Mexico.

Three youth fishing derbies were held at Hopewell Lake, Santa Cruz Lake and Lake Maloya that reeled in 264 young anglers. 

Joining with ally Amigos Bravos, our Sentinels and five Board members of ECTU held a volunteer water quality monitoring training in Valdez.  ECTU's five Board members (Eric is also a founding ECTU Board member) will be monitoring the water quality of the Red River while its Superfund clean-up takes place.  Rachel Conn, Sentinel and Amigos Bravos policy analyst, spoke about water quality issues in Northern New Mexico and then explained how Sentinels’ data has been accepted and used by both the state Environmental Department and the EPA to list segments of New Mexico streams as polluted, triggering cleanup plans.

Sentinels Rios de Taos also co-sponsored the sixth annual Taos River and Trails Clean-up Day, along with the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, Amigos Bravos, Rocky Mounttin Youth Corps and Centinel Bank.  116 people showed up to clean up rivers and trails in the local Taos area and collected over 3,000 pounds of trash and recyclables.
-----------------

ALL HAIL Hoosier Chapter Conservation Chair and Water Sentinel Bowden Quinn for his accurate take on the sorry state of the state's waterways, the causes, and the unacceptably plodding and deficient approach state officials have taken to address the longstanding problems.

Great media including these two - from a feature in the Indianapolis Star, and the Public News Service radio syndicate:

From the Star:

'About a mile south of Lucas Oil Stadium in Downtown Indianapolis, Tony Chao stood fishing one recent morning on the bank of the White River.

A few feet behind his back, a sign warned not to wade into the water. Too much raw sewage in there. A sign to his left warned "not all fish are safe to eat." Some have too many toxins in their meat.

When asked whether he actually eats what he catches, Chao, 55, gave a look that might best be described as "are you serious?"

Chao's three fishing rods were propped up next to a pile of someone else's discarded beer cans, sport-drink bottles and soggy carpet pieces.

Beyond the trash, across the river, a white cloud puffed up from a smokestack.

"I don't think people eat the fish here," Chao said.

And for good reason.

This stretch of the White River -- like so many other Hoosier waterways -- contains species of fish that have tested positive for mercury and other pollutants called PCBs, synthetic chemicals so toxic federal officials banned them more than three decades ago.

That there are concerns about the water quality of Indiana's rivers, lakes and streams is not new. But environmentalists are increasingly worried the state has become passive about the problem, even as Indiana's regulators and industry officials say they've made significant progress monitoring and reducing the toxins in Hoosier waterways.

In a draft report about to be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state environmental management officials say there are nearly 1,000 stretches of Indiana streams, rivers and lakes where fish have PCBs and mercury in their bodies.

But while other states have created action plans specifically geared toward reducing the contaminants in fish, Indiana hasn't.

And that concerns environmentalists who say state officials, prompted by a long-standing reluctance to regulate industrial polluters -- particularly the coal-fired power plants that dump more than 4,000 pounds of mercury into the environment in a single year -- are putting the public at risk.

"We know what the problem is"

At the heart of current debate is the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's handling of mercury and PCB contamination in a biennial water pollution report soon to be submitted to the EPA.

In the report, state water quality regulators list mercury and PCB fish-tissue contamination as a leading cause of lake and stream impairment, second only to fecal bacteria contamination.

Nevertheless, IDEM placed waterways with mercury and PCB-contaminated fish on a separate, less-urgent action list.

Environmentalists say the decision, in effect, allows the state to delay dealing with toxic fish.

Unacceptable, says Bowden Quinn, conservation program coordinator for the Sierra Club's Hoosier chapter.

He called it part of a longstanding pattern of inaction among state environmental regulators, who would rather grouse about federal agencies' lack of funding and guidance instead of actually doing something to get toxins out of the state's waterways.

For mercury at least, he said, that means forcing one industry to curb how much gets dumped into the environment.

"We know what the problem is," Quinn said. "It's coal."

Chao, the White River fisherman, said he had no problem fishing in a waterway so dirty officials had to put up warning signs.

For him, fishing is for fun, not food. But for those who do want to eat fish, he offers some advice.

"Go to the store," he said. "It's safer."'
____________________________________

From PNS radio:

'Every three years, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) updates its "Impaired Waters List," a summary of contaminated waterways in the state. Environmental groups say they are very concerned about the list and revision process, as they believe more must be done to keep Hoosier waters safe.

The Sierra Club and Hoosier Environmental Council are among the organizations urging IDEM to do a better job of tracking and cleaning up waterways that are polluted enough to make the "Impaired Waters List."

Bowden Quinn, conservation program coordinator with the Sierra Club Indiana Chapter, says mercury contamination from coal plants is the biggest concern to human health.

"There are 348 water assessment units listed as impaired for mercury contamination. But women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and children under 15 should not be eating fish from those waters at all."

Quinn says professors from IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis) and Toronto did a recent study of mercury contamination from coal power plants in the Indianapolis area.

"That showed that it was being deposited on the northeast side of the county, getting into the White River and causing mercury contamination down the White River."

Quinn says many of Indiana's contaminated waterways aren't improving.

"Basically, things aren't getting any better. They're probably getting a little worse, certainly for some pollutants like nutrients and mercury."

Overall, E. coli is the most prevalent contaminate affecting Indiana waterways. Quinn says that contamination is caused by untreated human or animal waste getting to the water from failing septic systems or combined sewer overflows.

Another problem is algae blooms caused by fertilizer runoff from agriculture and landscaping.'
_____________________________________________________

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120603/NEWS/306030014/Star-Watch-How-clean-Indiana-s-waterways-
Star Watch: How clean are Indiana's waterways?
Advocates say state needs to step up fight against toxins, but officials cite progress
10:19 PM, Jun. 2, 2012
By Ryan Sabalow
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http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F26443-1
Groups Say Indiana’s “Impaired Water List” is Stagnant
May 21, 2012
Leigh DeNoon, Public News Service - IN

ALL HAIL Earthjustice attorney David Guest for his shout-out to our Florida Water Sentinels and their Slime Crimes tracker pages in his op-ed to the Gainesville Sun.

https://www.facebook.com/FloridaSlimeCrimes  **AND** https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&mpa=0&ctz=300&mpf=0&vps=15&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=211539618625491573613.0004b1b520a27d0c8cb86

It's slime, it's a crime, and it's gotta stop.

From the op-ed:

'In May, the Santa Fe River near Gainesville — a gorgeous river with sandy bottom limestone banks, and 75 springs — was blanketed with an unprecedented, nauseating green slime.  Folks couldn't swim, fish, paddle, jet ski, boat or float in its spring waters over the hot Memorial Day weekend because the algae outbreak is a health threat.

What a mess. What a mess for wildlife, what a mess for our drinking water, what a mess for property owners, and for all of us who make our living from tourism.

I wish I could say this is an isolated event. But over the Christmas break, a nasty algae outbreak wrecked the holiday for folks on gorgeous Sanibel Island, a top tourist destination in Southwest Florida. Dead fish covered the beaches and the ocean breeze carried a nauseating stench.

The culprit in both outbreaks: manure, fertilizer and inadequately treated sewage in the water, which fuel noxious algae. This pollution is preventable. What we need are effective, enforceable limits on the amount of sewage, fertilizer and manure allowed in our waterways.

The algae outbreaks can be prevented by upgrading aging sewer systems, using smarter fertilizer application techniques and implementing modern manure management on agricultural operations.

But the state is dragging its feet, and the official lax attention is having disastrous effects.   The St. Johns River near Jacksonville was slimed repeatedly for six years, with one 2010 outbreak stretching 100 miles long. On Southeast Florida's St. Lucie River near Stuart, a slime outbreak caused waterfront property values to plummet by $500 million. Check out the Sierra Club's online “Slime Crimes” map for photos of noxious algae outbreaks happening right now.

At the industry-friendly Florida DEP, lobbyists for polluters basically drafted their own rules, and the standards are so ineffective that they don't even require the state to take any action until it's too late and our water has already been slimed.

It is time for us to take our public waterways back.'

_____________________________________

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120611/OPINION03/120609658/-1/news?p=1&tc=pg
David Guest: The DEP is blind to state's ‘green slime'
By David Guest
Special to The Sun
Published: Monday, June 11, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.