Feb 7, 2020 by IDEX Health & Science

When Preserve Calavera was informed that the state of California stopped monitoring Buena Vista Lagoon, Agua Hedionda Lagoon, and Batiquitos Lagoon, team members of IDEX Health & Science decided to take the initiative into their own hands. Through the help of local volunteers and a group of scientists from our team in Carlsbad, California, these 3 lagoons are monitored on a monthly basis.

Each month this volunteer group collects water samples at these 3 watersheds and perform tests in the lab, using equipment purchased with a $5,000 grant from the IDEX Foundation. Every other month, volunteers monitor for ammonia, nitrates, total phosphorus, reactive phosphorus, turbidity, total colliform, and E. coli. They also record pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and water temperature, while making observations about creek flow, water depth, clarity and color of the water, and the amount of vegetation.

The team uploads the data to the California State Water Board according to a process outlined by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure its consistency and validity.

“I used to walk my little girls down to Agua Hedionda lagoon,” says one of our engineers. “As a team, we’re proud to be doing something together that matters.”