Lewis and Clark Community College

10/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/18/2024 12:20

Volunteers with Winter Chloride Watch Monitor the Impacts of Road Salt on Local Waterways

In winter, streams in urban and suburban areas are threatened by salt used to keep roads clear of snow and ice. Photo by John Griffis

EAST ALTON -WinterChloride Watch offers several training opportunities for community members to learn how to monitor the impacts of road salt on freshwater ecosystems.

Every winter, road salt is used on roads, driveways, parking lots, and sidewalks to reduce accidents from icy conditions. However, much of this salt ends up in local waterways, creating unsafe conditions for aquatic life.

WinterChloride Watch trains volunteers to measure chloride, a major component of road salt, in their local rivers, streams, ponds, and wetlands.

Volunteers will take several chloride readings throughout the season, providing valuable data that can help identify areas where salt impacts water quality.

"The WinterChloride Watchers who monitor throughout Illinois are helping local decision-makers see how our choices impact the world around us," RiverWatch Director and Stream Ecologist Danelle Haake said. "When we can show the huge increase in how salty our streams become after a snowstorm, they are often surprised."

WinterChloride Watch is a community science program coordinated by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRRECSM) at Lewis and Clark Community College.

The virtual training workshops will run from 7-8 p.m. on the following dates.

WinterChloride Watch Workshops

  • Monday, October 21
  • Wednesday, October 30
  • Thursday, November 21

WinterChloride Watch has partnered with The Conservation Foundation to offer additional training workshops in the Chicagoland area.

The Conservation Foundation Training Workshops

  • Thursday, October 17 - Virtual
  • Tuesday, October 22 - In-person (Lombard)
  • Wednesday, October 30 - In-Person (McHenry County)
  • Thursday, November 7 - Hybrid (Naperville)

Register for a WinterChloride Watch training workshop at https://bit.ly/WCW-Training. For more information, contact Haake at [email protected] or (618) 468-2784.

About National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC℠)

NGRREC is dedicated to the study of great river systems and the communities that use them, facilitating the efficient implementation of science into policy and practice. Founded in 2002 as a collaborative partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Lewis and Clark Community College, the center aspires to be a leader in scholarly research, education, and outreach related to the interconnectedness of large rivers, their floodplains, watersheds, and their associated communities.