By Daily Press staff
On May 17th, hundreds of volunteers, scientists, waiters, seniors and students will gather to take samples of California’s coastal rivers, streams and the Pacific Ocean as part of Snapshot Day 2003.
The samples collected will be used to develop the first “snapshot” of water quality along the entire California coastline.
“This is a monumental event,” said Dennis Dickerson, executive officer of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. “Snapshot Day 2003 will provide information needed to better understand and eliminate threats to the state’s magnificent coastline. It will also provide an opportunity for individuals to learn about the importance of water quality and what they can do to protect our bays, beaches and estuaries and the plants and animals that live there.”
The 2003 event relies on volunteers to go to specified locations along the coast and adjacent waterways to perform a few simple tasks, including making site observations and recording water temperatures.
Those who are interested will be instructed on how perform more specialized tasks, such as measuring for pH, turbidity and dissolved oxygen in water.
Snapshot Day events will be held Saturday, May 17 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Several monitoring sites have been selected, including Ballona Creek, Ballona Wetlands, Malibu Creek, Topanga Creek, Los Angeles River and various coastal sites. More than 100 locations will be monitored in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. For information on this event, visit www.coastforyou.org or call Santa Monica BayKeeper at (310)305-9645, ext. 3.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.