Alabama is home to extraordinary water resources and the wildlife they sustain, not only for a state its size — but for a state of any size. Fifth nationally for overall biodiversity and first in freshwater aquatic biodiversity, it’s the natural habitat for 332 freshwater species, according to statistics shared by Auburn University, compared with California’s 41.

Alabama may only be one-third California’s physical size, but as Auburn’s School of Fisheries, Aquaculture & Aquatic Sciences emphasizes, it houses 132,000 miles of water networks, more than 3.6 million acres of wetlands, and 560,000 acres of lakes.

The school, instrumental 30 years ago in creating a citizen-driven, all-volunteer program for monitoring and reporting water data, helps train community volunteers throughout the state to become certified water monitors — and the program, known as Alabama Water Watch (AWW), will host training at Cullman’s Camp Meadowbrook next month for residents of all ages who’re interested in stewarding their local water resources.

“This is a great opportunity for citizens in and around Cullman County to help monitor the water resources we have that flow through our county,” says Cullman County extension agent Kira Sims, “and we have many of them.” Anyone interested in becoming a certified water monitor for Cullman County must register no later than March 21 in order to complete online coursework ahead of the April training date.

Certified water monitors in Alabama play a vital volunteer role, serving as frontline observers in the important work of sampling local water resources and tracking their levels of nonpoint source pollution (NPS). NPS most commonly occurs via storm water runoff, with gravity bringing not only natural rainfall but any ground-based contaminants it may contain — suspended and dissolved substances including nutrients, chemicals, toxic materials, loose soil, and fecal matter — into local bodies of water.

How do certified water monitors help? Upon completion of the required training course, each volunteer selects a site from which to regularly collect water samples. The samples are then submitted to Alabama Water Watch, where they become part of the publicly available information on Alabama water quality through AWW’s online water data portal.

As AWW stresses, the locally sourced, statewide-shared information “allows anyone to view the water quality data in their own communities as well as across the state.” A key goal of the program is to invite participation from young people as well as adults, and since 2013, AWW has teamed with Alabama 4-H to nurture future generations of natural resource stewards through the youth-oriented 4-H Alabama Water Watch program.

Locally, AWW and the Cooperate Extension Service will be hosting 4-H AWW training session in both Cullman and Walker counties, with the training date set for April 6 followed by field days on April 14 and 20.

To start down your volunteer path to becoming a certified water monitor right here at home, sign up before the March 21 registration deadline by visiting the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service’s registration and calendar page at aces.edu/event/alabama-water-watch-monitoring-training-5/.{/div}