Beach Water Quality & Spring

It's nice to see the robins & hear the songbirds again. I help with the water testing done locally by Clean Water Access. Generally I join Andrew Going near the Middletown side of First Beach, but sometimes I'm at Kings Park. I'm the recorder while my partner dons a wet suit, takes a bottle & thermometer, & wades in to obtain a sample.

This is the first week that the sun has actually been up at 6:15 AM when I get to First. This is also the first time since early winter that the air temp & water matched- 44.9 degrees. The water quality has substantially improved since a year ago. This is due to ? no dogs allowed by the resevoir (although there seem to be more birds than every) or the new sewer non-leaking pipes or any combination thereof. Here is the link.

Dave McClaughlin (the intrepid leader) has pulled this group together to test 7 or 8 spots. One in Middletown at Easton's Point (Atlantic Beach) & the others in Newport. When meeting recently with the Econ. Advisory board down at the Atlantic Beach I intro'd him to Rep. Kennedy so that Dave could give him the good news & plead for more infrastructure funding. Having both Sen. Reed & Rep. Kennedy on their respective Appropriations Committes is nothing but good for us locally. There is also talk of possible future funding for a water treatment plant. Yahoo!

This beach testing goes not only to the State but Woods' Hole for data necessary in trying to keep our waters clean. This is a great group of mostly surfers who volunteer their time weekly to test & transfer the results to the state testing site. What a great group!

We want clean water at our beaches ALL the time! It's good for business, it's good for residents & visitors. It's good for our children & future generations.