Last Wednesday, I joined HooRWA’s La Rosa team on a water sampling run to see what our friends in Vermont have been up to. The La Rosa partnership is a program run by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation that supports projects assessing water quality throughout the state. Our team, consisting of board members Thom Gentle, Wendy Hopkins, and Mark Merrell, test for phosphorus and chloride at four sites along the Hoosic River and its tributaries. The sites go from Pownal up to North Bennington.
In our sampling session, we saw gorgeous sights from Vermont, full of natural beauty. I would highly recommend anyone who hasn’t experienced it go up to see the river there.
Unlike in our Massachusetts sampling program, where we test for E.coli, our Vermont program tests for phosphorus and chloride. High phosphorus levels often come from fertilizer runoff, and it can cause high algae growth in water bodies. Chloride frequently comes from groundwater or road salt. High levels of chloride increase corrosivity of water and cause damage to pipes.
Our Vermont team has been doing invaluable work with their water testing program. I had a wonderful time meeting Wendy and Mark and seeing what other work Thom has been up to with HooRWA. We wish them luck and look forward to seeing their results!
A video of our Vermont team’s sampling session can be viewed HERE.