Dear Treasure Beach Community,

I am an environmental educator studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I have been visiting Treasure Beach for many years and I am VERY HAPPY that this summer, I will be bringing 4 high school student interns to volunteer in Treasure Beach on June 18-28th.

These students have been working on water quality projects all year on the Catawba River in North Carolina. They collected 58 water samples at 15 sites, and have developed a student-led water testing project at their school that they would like to duplicate in Treasure Beach as an opportunity to provide a free volunteer educational program for Treasure Beach youth (as well as interested community members).

The goal is to improve understanding and awareness about the quality of our water resources (locally and globally - because we are all connected by the same water cycle on Earth), monitor changes over time so we understand whether the quality is improving or becoming worse, and to recognize how human actions impact our watersheds and how water flowing from the land impacts the marine environment.

The students have been interviewed by FOX News twice and received a very small grant to purchase water test kits. You can see the FOX News broadcast on our website at http://www.seavibe.org. They would like to present their field research collected over the past year at Breds, the Womens Center, and the Fishing Co-op. They also want to teach other students how to draft basic watershed monitoring plans, and how to conduct and analyze water tests.

We hope to bring enough water tests to leave behind for the participating students to continue the water testing over the next year.

Since we are not all scientists, and science can often be daunting, an important aspect of the project is to integrate the arts. We will use poetry and paintings as a way to communicate environmental conservation issues. We have raised enough money to purchase paint for a mural at Sandy Bank Primary School. The intent is to connect to younger students, too, who might not be old enough to participate in water testing procedures.

We are also seeking artists to help with the mural. I know there are many talented artists out there and we would love to connect with you! If you are an artist, or know one, please spread the word!!

We would like to invite community members to attend the presentations, participate in painting the mural, and participate in water testing. Anyone is welcome to participate!

Also, if you have ideas of important test sites, please feel free to share your ideas. So far, we have considered tests in the Great Bay ponds and various springs, the canal drain, the gully near Kingfisher Plaza, the old unused well west of Frenchmans (just for fun to see what REAL dirty water looks like for comparison purposes - also to understand the impacts of salt water intrusion), various spots on the Black River, the Fish Sanctuary at Galleon Beach, YS Falls, and perhaps a few others. Please share your ideas if you know of other places to consider.

The goal is to give the students and community members an opportunity to connect with each other and learn from each other, because we learn so much from differing cultural perspectives, experiences, and attitudes toward environmental issues that impact us all in similar and different ways.

Students also gain experience and references that are very valuable for college and job applications.

There are no qualifications necessary to participate, other than a genuine interest, a good attitude, and the ability to work as a team.

Since we have focused most of our past work on water quality, we have a lot to learn about water scarcity issues that exist in Treasure Beach. We are interested in interviewing community members, especially elders, to discover what your ideas are for competition over water between residences, farmers, and businesses. We have a similar problem here in the U.S. and we are interested in learning more about proposed solutions worldwide.

Next year, we hope to expand the program to offer international internships to US and Jamaican students who participate throughout the year, to spread this project to the east coast of Nicaragua where I have studied in Pearl Lagoon. Pearl Lagoon has experienced incredible student-led successes where students used water test results to influence policies that now require an ice plant to treat contaminated water that was being used to make ice sold to local restaurants and residents for drinking. We all have different issues, so it is an opportunity to learn from each other.

The long-term goal of the project is to connect youth worldwide - to create an active worldwide student-led network that is working to improve and protect water quality...because our youth are our future water managers of the 21st century!! We need to train them with these skills that they likely will never obtain in traditional schooling.

If you are interested in learning more, the students and I will be checking back to respond to your comments and ideas.

You can also visit our website at http://www.seavibe.org or email me directly at
jacqueline@seavibe.org or call me at US 559-871-5045.

We look forward to interacting with the Treasure Beach community June 18-28th!!

Please share your ideas and thoughts.

Jacqueline Rose

This is welcome news Ms Rose. You have pretty much mentioned the places that I would suggest. The only aspect I would add is to find a way to see if chemical runoff from the farms above and around Treasure Beach has contaminated our water supply. Over the years, many people who have never smoked or been exposed to chemicals, have died of cancer, and many of us suspect water contamination. I wish you and your student much success.

Can you test sea water? I have heard people complain about sewage pipes leading out into the sea. Since everyone eats fish, this might be an important source of contaminents.

Thank you Ms Rose. What we do to our water and air is done to our bodies in the long run. Glad that our young will have this opportunity to learn and guide our future actions.

What a great project, and it is refreshing to see a north-south cooperative idea based in reciprocity -- that both areas have problems and possible solutions -- not that one can only give and the other can only receive.

They aren't mentioned, but I'm assuming you already know the Jamaica Environment Trust? They have also been working with Treasure Beach residents and organizers, particularly with the pond/canal/flooding issue, and sea turtles, I think? If not already, y'all might want to be in touch with each other...
http://www.jamentrust.org/education/sep/school-environment-programme.html

I hope you'll keep us posted on the research group's findings and experiences! Safe travels and happy sampling!

We will be testing sea water and freshwater for sewage contamination. Regarding testing chemical runoff from the farms, we will be bringing about 5 different tests to capture information about nitrates and phosphates (common in fertilizers).

This is just a start, and we are hoping to partner with UWI (or bring samples back to the US) to check for other chemicals that can only be analyzed in a lab...including things like mercury, lead, and common chemicals on the labels of the popular farm products most often used in the area. Unfortunately, some of the more advanced chemical tests can be $500 or more and we were not able to raise enough money yet to conduct them all.

If we find contamination, we will use the data collected to request funding to conduct more advanced tests, as well as funding to work with farmers to help them afford the transition to growing organic with less risk.

These are long-term plans, and it may take some time, but I am passionate and persistent about this work and supporting the Treasure Beach community.

Thank you for your support... and we hope to meet you during our trip if you are available.

This is a wonderful and most worthwhile project. There are two items of special concern. One is the possible disposal of sewage into the sea from what had been Tranquility Bay and then became a police center of some sort. The other has to do with weed killing chemicals which I believe are used by many in Treasure Beach and may have the end result of killing much more than weeds. I have also noticed much less large coral (sea fans) and less fish in the last 20 years and would like to know the causes.

I used to see black widow spiders every day in the 90's in TB, I have not seen one in a while.

I wonder if the dispersal of a nerve poison by fogging has anything to do with it, and maybe more?

http://www.chem-tox.com/malathion/research/

Thanks and welcome Ms. Rose. Please give our piped domestic water which is sourced through thirty add year old asbestos pipes whatever test you can.

It is said that some of the water pipes in T/Beach are made of asbestos, perhaps we could test our reliable water supply from NWC.

I have heard this as well and I seen the NWC replacing a section of the water supply pipe on the main road in Treasure Beach, I got out and looked at the inside of it, it wasnt pretty to say the least, another concern for me is the run off into the Gray pond from the fertilizers,pesticides, and things like dramazone, used in the farms above it, there are crayfish, shrimp, and African perch in the pond, anyway to find out if these would be safe to eat, personally I am surpirsed some of them dont have 3 eyes! But I am aware they are being consumed by some locals. It would be nice to know if they really are safe to eat. I am also an avid salt water fisherman here in Treasure Beach, and have noticed some changes in fish habitat this year, have a few questions about that. Thanks and I would love to meet with you when you and your group arrives later this month.

We would be happy to test the NWC water supply. We do not have tests for asbestos or the specific chemicals in pesticides, but I can check on how we might get those tests done.

A water testing lab here in Monterey, California has generously agreed to test our water samples for heavy metals for free. I can take 5 tests home and they will check for levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, and aluminum.

Turey & Kory - I think your message about the animals is so important. The animals and wildlife give us signs we need to pay attention to. We would love to meet with you and have you share your stories with us. We will be staying at Cacona, arriving on June 18 and leaving on June 28. Please do come find us or leave a number where we can reach you. One evening, we have scheduled a bon fire and "listening to stories from nature" is the theme. Perhaps you can join us.

We are excited to get the following message from the school about two of the students coming on this trip from North Carolina. The students are looking forward to this project and one writes about it in her article that was published today:

From Olympic School:
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/News/Pages/2012GraduatesStephanieMedina.aspx

Above is a link to a media story about Stephanie Medina and SeaVibe.

FYI, Shruti Patel was Valedictorian at her high school at Olympic, and Stephanie was Salutatorian at her high school.

So it was a proud Graduation day for Seavibe @ Olympic"

Thanks for the invite but I'll be off the island. Look forward to the test results.

Just spoke to a friend who is concerned about the use of pesticides, weed killers and the rest. He says that many have been observing illnesses that were rare before 'spraying' began in the area.

Unfortunately many that use these chemicals believe any critisism off their use is a trespass on their freedom to grow as they wish, regardless.

Government allows their import and use, RADA promotes it so it must be ok.

Ms Rose, I don't know if you and your group will be interested in alternate water supply, but there may be sources of water in the area that are not currently being used. In the old days, before running water, we got our water from springs. If it can be proven that these are still potable, it may be possible to exploit them in the future to alleviate water shortage.

I hope the springs do not contain any of the substances that are applied to the earth in the lands above and in our own area. The things that spew out of the mouth of a spray gun.

I would prefer drinking our spring water any day sah. Once it clean.