LEWISTON — No Name Pond has been chosen as a pilot site for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Volunteer River Monitoring Program, according to a statement from Lewiston City Hall. 

The purpose of the program is to sample and monitor the quality of Maine’s brooks, streams and rivers, with the DEP providing equipment and training for volunteers to conduct biweekly sampling throughout the summer months. Training is necessary for volunteers to be certified in sampling methods and for data to be validated.

In that regard, volunteers from the No Name Pond Watershed Association, Jeanne Raymond, Al Curran, Harry Gray, Eileen Fair and Carmen Coulombe, were trained and certified in July to do the sampling for No Name Brook. Spencer Ward, 10, whose grandparents live on No Name Pond, was also trained and will be assisting the samplers; however, he will need to await certification until age 14.

The sampling, which started in July, will continue through September and each year thereafter. Sampling is done with probes that test for dissolved oxygen, temperature and conductivity. The Maine DEP provides containers for samples that will be tested separately for E. coli. Testing data will be reviewed to see which activities in the watershed affect water quality and to help develop programs to protect the brook from nonpoint source pollution.

Residents who would like more information about the Volunteer River Monitoring Program can contact Jan Patterson, city of Lewiston project engineer, at 513-3003; TTY/TDD 513-3007 or via jpatterson@ci.lewiston.me.us.