Water quality monitoring is foundational to assessing our nation’s waterways and gauging progress, making it essential to achieving the Clean Water Act. Taking a deeper dive into this crucial – and often messy work – is the topic of the third episode of NEIWPCC’s new podcast, the Clean Water Pod.
Host Jeff Berckes speaks with Monty Porter, who has 25 years of experience with the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, and Kellie Merrell, an aquatic biologist with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. They share their field work history, career journeys and success stories while reflecting upon the evolution of water quality monitoring methods and parameters over the decades. They also discuss what the field needs now and look to the future.
“One of the big things to me as essential in our [water quality monitoring] programs is we have to train our people,” said Monty Porter. “We need to bring in people – we have to understand professional development, we need to understand that they have to have the tools to be able to do the job they need to do.”
Listen to episode three here, or tune in wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
Follow @CleanWaterPod on Twitter for the latest updates.
About The Clean Water Pod
Through perspectives and stories from across the country, the “Clean Water Pod” explores the challenges and successes of restoring and protecting water quality. Season one of the podcast focuses on the fundamentals of the Clean Water Act.
This podcast is funded by a grant through the U.S. EPA and produced by Flip the Field and NEIWPCC.
Learn more about our work around the Clean Water Act 303(d) program