Our volunteers range in age from twenty to eighty years old. The average age of our volunteer cohort tilts toward sixty year-olds simply because this part of our population has the time available for the activities this project requires.
Usually a volunteer spends about an hour per month sampling stormwater and collecting data. Some spend up to four hours per month because they see the benefits for capturing as much pollution data as possible.
It's outdoor work, usually in the daylight hours, in all weather, except snow. A volunteer soon adds a tide and weather app to their phone. These guides help in planning which day and time during a month to conduct a survey with five to seven outfall pipes.
About a quarter of the shoreline outfall pipes are below water at high tide.
In all seven cities we monitor around sixty outfall pipes. It's a good representation for the pollution concentration levels that these cities contribute to the Salish Sea.
In 2020 we started in Anacortes with eighteen volunteers. Our partner with the City of Anacortes was Diane Hennebert, the City stormwater manager.
Anacortes is unusual in that it has 79 shoreline outfall pipes. That is a large number for a community of ony 17,000 people.
When Covid descended upon our community people could no longer meet in groups. In some ways this challenge fit our project very well. Our project had volunteers working in teams of two and we carefully followed the Covid safety protocols.
Our stormwater project was one of the few that could safely operate through the entire Covid period.
Our project lead organizer is Tim Gohrke and the funding sponsor is the non-profit, Friends of Skagit Beaches, in Anacortes.
The grants for equipment and supplies are managed by the board of directors of Friends of Skagit Beaches.
Why not include yourself? If this project looks like something you wish to participate with, send us a note and we will send you more information. Email contact addresses are here.
We will expand to more communities around the Salish Sea. Below is a map of the cities we intend to monitor.
