South Carolina includes 8 major river basins that contain more than 22,500 miles of freshwater rivers and stream, more than 390,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs, and even more wetlands and tidal creeks, rivers, and estuaries. These aquatic environments are connected to each other and essential for human health and well-being. Clean water is important for drinking, irrigation, manufacturing, and recreation. Healthy aquatic habitats are essential as breeding grounds for fish and other aquatic organisms that form the basis of many food chains, both aquatic and terrestrial. Collecting data on the surface waters of South Carolina leads to further understanding about water quality and the changes that are occurring in our streams, lakes, and tidal saltwater bodies over time.
There are four SC AAS sampling protocols: freshwater, tidal saltwater, macroinvertebrate, and lake monitoring. Volunteers can choose to be certified in one or multiple protocols depending on where and how they want to monitor. Explore our Become a Volunteer page to learn more.
Sampling frequency depends on the protocol the volunteer is following. For freshwater stream, tidal saltwater, and lake monitoring, volunteers sample their site(s) once a month. Macroinvertebrate monitoring is done twice per year.
Volunteers choose their own sites that can be safely, legally, and consistently accessed. We recommend that volunteers choose a site that is meaningful to them and easy to access. There are different site requirements for different monitoring protocols.
Volunteers can monitor anywhere that is publicly accessible or wherever they have permission. Sites on private property must be accessed with the landowner’s permission; a permission form is available on the Certified Volunteers page.
Potential monitoring sites can be explored through the SC AAS Atlas. Volunteers can contact their SC AAS trainer, program coordinator, or local watershed association for recommendations.
In-person workshops for freshwater stream, tidal saltwater, and macroinvertebrate monitoring are hosted year-round by our statewide network of trainers. Sign up for our newsletter or join one of our workshop waitlists to receive information about the next training near you. The lake monitoring certification course is fully online and can be taken anytime at your convenience.
SC AAS workshops are free and open to the public. If volunteers choose, they can purchase and maintain their own kits, or we have multiple kit loan locations and partners that supply volunteers with kits across the state for free. View public kit loan locations on the SC AAS Atlas.
Kit loan locations maintain kits available for volunteers to check-out. These locations are listed on the SC AAS Atlas. Each kit loan location sets the protocol for checking out their kit. If you have questions about kit loan locations or do not see one available in your area, contact the SC AAS coordinators for help.
If your organization is interested in becoming a kit loan location, contact the program coordinators at scaas@des.sc.gov. We are always seeking more opportunities to supply our volunteers with kits.
Hard copies of the handbooks are provided to volunteers when they attend an in-person workshop. Digital copies are available on the Certified Volunteers page.
There are so many ways to support SC AAS!
- Follow us on social media (Facebook and Instagram) and like and share our content to boost our visibility.
- Come to a workshop and learn all about water quality monitoring. Even if you are unable to monitor monthly, the information you learn will be useful to anyone interested in being a more informed steward of our state’s waters.
- Consider becoming certified in the macroinvertebrate monitoring protocol. Macroinvertebrates are monitored twice a year.
- You or your organization can support the Friends of SC Adopt-a-Stream. Friends of SC AAS is a program of the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina (EEASC). Donations are tax deductible and expand SC AAS volunteer water quality monitoring efforts through the purchase of water quality monitoring kits, outreach materials, supplies, outreach materials, and space for workshops.
We do not. However, SC AAS partners with many different organizations that do, and through the Green Steps Schools (GSS) program, SC AAS protocols are used by teachers and mentors to educate students of all ages about water quality. Find classroom resources about water and water quality and learn more about ways to incorporate SC AAS into the classroom on the GSS website and in our SC AAS/GSS information sheet.
Links to non-SCDES organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. SCDES is not responsible for the content of the individual organization web pages found at these links.
The two types of data collected by SC AAS volunteers are quantitative data and qualitative data. Quantitative data is something that can be counted or measured in discrete units, such as pH or temperature. Qualitative data is descriptive or categorical and includes things like the color of the water, odor, photographs, and the presence or absence of algae. SC AAS volunteers make many observations when they monitor water quality that provide qualitative data. Even though it may be hard to analyze statistically, this qualitative data is very important because it provides context and details that give a broader picture than can be achieved through the collection of quantitative data alone.
For a complete list of quantitative and qualitative data collected under each monitoring protocol, check out our data forms on our Certified Volunteers page.
Annual recertification is necessary to maintain access to add data to the SC AAS Database and is a requirement under the SC AAS Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). Recertification allows us to give important reminders, updates, and ensure that our volunteers are continuing to collect high quality data. Volunteers can recertify online or by attending another in-person workshop.