ShoreRivers Achieves Tier 3 for Bacteria Monitoring

On June 25th, Alexandra Fries at IAN and Becky Monahan at MDE conducted a bacteria monitoring field and lab audit for ShoreRivers. The Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative recently incorporated bacteria monitoring in its protocols and several groups in Maryland are collecting high quality bacteria data that is now approved as Tier III. Becky Golden, the Watershed Scientist at ShoreRivers, helps the four RiverKeepers that the organization encompasses. She took the field sample for bacteria at a wade-in site and two ShoreRivers staff members, Hope and Faith, prepared the water sample in the lab for incubation. ShoreRivers has many staff and volunteers going out to collect samples, and they were coming and going to pick up their sampling kits from the office. The data generated from these efforts helps local communities better understand their waterways.