Water monitors

Hats off to The Hays Daily News for covering the weather and storms the week of May 5. I applaud Mike Corn for riding along with James Leiker, Kansas State University watershed project technician, as James was out taking water samples and Mike was learning more about our project.

More importantly, I appreciate the references to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow, or CoCoRaHS, network in the news stories during that week. In the Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds, we have recruited local residents and landowners to participate in the CoCoRaHS volunteer weather reporting network to help us with protecting and improving water resources.

In the state of Kansas, the National Weather Service has 313 gauges to help them measure precipitation with 15 gauges in the watersheds. In a few short years, the CoCoRaHS network has 644 gauges measuring precipitation and reporting severe weather. Of those 644 gauges, the Watershed Restoration And Protection Strategies, or WRAPS, has worked with our volunteers to distribute 76 gauges across Trego, Ellis, Russell and Ellsworth counties since late February. The volunteers faithfully report precipitation on a daily basis, even when it is not raining.

The CoCoRaHS network allows us to see rainfall distribution across a watershed of nearly 2,500 square miles. We utilize the data from the CoCoRaHS network to determine whether samples should be collected in parts of the watershed and to evaluate stream water quality. Each time we pull water samples, we run analysis for nitrogen, phosphorus, E. coli bacteria and sediment concentrations. It is important to know surface water quality as it flows through our communities as this surface water is used as public drinking water for many of our communities and rural residents in Ellis, Russell and Ellsworth counties.

To learn more about the CoCoRaHS network or to view national, statewide or county level precipitation, log on to www.cocorahs.org. To find out more about water quality protection and restoration efforts in Trego, Ellis, Russell or Ellsworth counties, visit us online at www.my kansaswatershed.com.

We all live in a watershed and require clean, reliable source of water, and it is great to see local businesses like The Hays Daily News taking an active role in reporting news stories that are important to all.

Stacie Minson

Kansas State University watershed specialist