By Irina Goldstein, Water Specialist and
Teresa Seamster, Northern New Mexico Group chair
Sierra Club’s Water Sentinel program is one of several grassroots initiatives that help to supplement federal and state efforts to monitor national surface-water resources.
As part of this initiative, the Sierra Club Northern New Mexico Group conducted water-quality testing for presence of hormones, PCBs and heavy metals in the Santa Fe River downstream from the City of Santa Fe’s wastewater treatment plant.
The water samples were analyzed for 17 hormones. The results detected presence of two hormones in water samples:
- Androstenedion is an androgenic steroid hormone that regulates sexual characteristics and is used to enhance athletic and sexual performance.
- Androsteron is a metabolite of androstenedion and ...
By Eric Patterson
Water Sentinels — Rios de Taos has been awarded a grant to encourage student participation in water-monitoring activities and the general environmental activities of Sierra Club.
We will continue to work with Taos High School students — the Tiger Salamanders — and will be contacting other high schools to initiate more student environmental programs.
Our long-term goal is to have more student environmental organizations and more young Sierra Club members. If you know of any New Mexico student groups who might be interested in participating, please contact Eric Patterson, Water Sentinels coordinator, at eepatt@gmail.com or 575-776-2833.
...
By Mona Blaber
Seamster is chair of the Northern New Mexico Group.
What is your role with Sierra Club?
The chair of our group has many responsibilities: running monthly excom meetings, keeping members informed of group activities, submitting comments and writing letters of support on a wide spectrum of city-county-regional issues, attending coalition meetings, arranging volunteer activities and public outreach such as outings, tabling, and presenting at public events such as the recent “Co-Existence with Carnivores” panel. We also have published a hiking book, and I arrange for book shipments from the publisher and work with groups such as Taos Water Sentinels and Dr. Eric Metzler to award proceeds from the book sales to their water-monitoring and pollinator research in ...
Teresa Seamster,
Northern New Mexico Group
There is not much to top spending a day in the late-summer sunshine, wading and checking the waters of some of our northern rivers.
Eric and Nora Patterson are the linchpins of the Taos Water Sentinels. Skilled at all aspects of sampling and monitoring water quality, they keep records on the rivers of Northern New Mexico, train volunteer monitors, team up with Amigos Bravos and Taos High School students to provide vital water measurements for lab analysis and send results to the state Environment Department.
Our state is strapped for funding when it comes to monitoring our many streams and rivers. The Pattersons have secured their reputation with the state with their reliable data ...
By Susan Martin, Rio Grande Chapter Executive Committee
The national Sierra Club’s Honors and Awards Committee notified Eric Patterson on June 25 that he was the recipient of the Club’s 2016 Special Service Award, which honors Sierra Club members for strong and consistent commitment to conservation over an extended period of time.
Here’s an excerpt from the award submission from our chapter:
Fighting the causes and results of climate change will take the energy of our next generation to prevent environmental devastation. Eric Patterson is the personification of mentor and coach, engaging diverse youth in environmental protection in Illinois and now in northern New Mexico.
Eric is a genial, humble person who makes others feel comfortable and willing to participate ...
By Eric Patterson, Water Sentinels — Rios de Taos
It’s been a busy summer so far for Water Sentinels and our youth group, the Tiger-Salamanders. Here are some highlights:
May 6: The Taos High School Tiger-Salamanders attended a fishing derby at Eagle Rock Lake near Questa. They monitored water on the lake and on the Red River and did some fishing afterward.
May 20-21: Sentinels coordinators attended a conference in Washington, D.C., with other Water Sentinel leaders and Sierra Club staff to discuss the Club’s position on water quality. It was agreed that current leaders will help different chapters to establish water-monitoring.
May 21: Tiger-Sentinels presented their research projects at the annual Enchanted Circle Chapter of Trout Unlimited fundraising banquet. It ...
The Water Sentinels Rios de Taos are kicking off the 2016 water-monitoring season with a planning and training meeting in late May.
We are also interested in monitoring other parts of New Mexico outside Taos County. If you have a concern about a possibly contaminated stream in your area, please contact coordinator Eric Patterson at eepatt@gmail.com. We are particularly interested in possible pollution of streams from the dairy industry.
Highlights
The Taos High School Tiger Salamanders participated in stocking Rio Grande cutthroat trout at La Junta point on March 22. Students from Taos High School and Questa High School joined other volunteers to assist NM Game and Fish employees in carrying bags of trout fingerlings down the trail to the junction of the Red River and the Rio ...
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