Kentucky River Watershed Watch (KRWW) held the annual Fall Sampling event last week. Between September 8th and 10th, 136 stream sites across the Kentucky River Basin were sampled and tested for E.coli and heavy metals. This was a large water testing undertaking with samples coming from 40 Kentucky counties. Headwaters and Letcher County were represented well with 11 samples from the North Fork of the Kentucky river basin.
Volunteer sampling events organized by Kentucky River Watershed Watch are vital to creating public information and awareness of Kentucky River water quality. Based on the results of these annual sampling events, volunteers and community members can take a look at the water quality data collected and gain an understanding of the conditions of their local streams. Beyond local information, sampling events encompassing the entire river basin like the Fall Sampling event, contribute to a more complete picture of the conditions of the Kentucky River as a whole – from its headwaters here, in Letcher County, to the confluence of the Ohio.
Alex Beer, Headwaters VISTA, measures the conductivity of a North Fork tributary.