WHEN? Wednesday, October 6, 2004 10:30 a.m to 2 p.m. (rain date: October 14) WHERE? Batsto Village (Wharton State Forest), Hammonton, N.J.

From September 18 to October 18, 2004, people around the globe will join together to monitor the quality of their local watersheds and enter the results of their efforts into an international database. A major goal of this effort, which culminates on “World Water Monitoring Day,” is to create an awareness of how important it is to protect our waterways, a resource on which our lives depend.

As part of this month-long project, local teachers and students are invited on October 6th to learn from and interact with staff from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Pinelands Commission as these agencies demonstrate water-quality monitoring activities using chemical, biological, and flow techniques at the lake and on the Batsto River, in and around historic Batsto Village.

Students will have the opportunity to conduct their own simple water-quality tests so they can later enter the collected data on the World Water Monitoring Day web site at http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org. Informational display tables will be on site and leaders from the sponsoring agencies will be on hand to outline their monitoring programs and to answer questions. Teachers and students - please bring along your own picnic lunch ("carry in, carry out").

Teachers should pre-register by calling Tanya Oznowich or Marc Rogoff, NJDEP, at (609) 984-9802 or (609) 292-1474.