Although Venango County has many high quality fishing streams all is not perfect in our little world. Some of our streams are impacted by acid mine drainage, leaking oil and gas wells and the residue from departed refineries. With the new interest in deep shale gas wells, we have started additional monitoring specifically for the identification of flow back water from hydraulic fracturing.
Over the years we have been involved with two different protocols in our monitoring.
Our initial studies were based on the PA DEP's Citizens' Volunteer Monitoring Program (CVMP) and PaSEC which is now part of Nature Abounds
These studies are designed to identify a variety of non-point source pollution problems. Monthly chemical testing is done to determine pH, conductance, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, phosphate, nitrate and sulfate. In addition biannual testing is done on the macro-invertebrate community of the stream to get a better reading of overall stream health. more info ...
We continue to use the Macroinvertebrate survey portion of the CVMP protocols during summer studies. Additionaly we work with the Venango Conservation District on their educational programs.
As shale gas drilling became more common in our area we realized that there was a potential problem with water being contaminated by the flow back from the hydraulic fracturing process. To address this issue we became involved with the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College. This protocol involves using a meter to do weekly testing for conductance and total dissolved solids (TDS). more info ...
The ALLARM program was discontinued in 2020. Conductance meters used during the program are available to anyone who wants to be involved in a monitoring program.
