Texas Stream Team is a network of trained volunteers and supportive partners working together to gather information about the natural resources of Texas and to ensure that information is available to all Texans. Volunteers are trained to collect quality-assured information that can be used to make environmentally sound decisions. Established in 1991, Texas Watch (now Texas Stream Team) is administered through a cooperative partnership between Texas State University-San Marcos, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Currently, over 1,400 Texas Stream Team volunteers collect water quality data on rivers, streams, wetlands, bays, bayous, and estuaries across Texas.
This iPhone application is a digital means for these volunteers and supportive partners to gather this information and electronically submit that data to the Texas Stream Team, where it is then uploaded into their database!
Features:
Environmental Monitoring Form – what used to be a pencil-and-paper effort to obtain data, then mailing the form in to the Texas Stream Team, is now an on-screen data entry form, to include validation on every field to ensure data quality. Data is stored to a database on the device.
Field Reference Guide – a ‘cheat-sheet’ of how-to testing techniques for the various water quality testing and monitoring procedures.
Videos – a variety of training videos come embedded with the app, just in case a volunteer is outside a network capable area and is unsure on how to perform one of the water quality tests, they can view a short video clip which explains the procedure in detail. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”!
Problem/Complaint Form – if there’s an environmental situation that needs to be reported, the volunteer can fill out a form explaining the problem in detail and immediately send it to the Texas Stream Team (and to whomever else they would like).
Emergency Page – contains some important contact information, to include ‘single-tap activated’ phone numbers and web-site connection capability for the “Texas Stream Team”, the “Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Kills and Spill Team” and the “Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)”.
Geolocation – with a tap of the finger, you can bring up your exact geographic location (satellite view), to include a display of your latitude and longitude coordinates. You can also email this info to anyone you wish!
(NOTE: App is intended for use by Texas Stream Team volunteer monitors only! Any data submitted is controlled by an assigned monitor ‘Client ID’. Data received from an invalid ‘Client ID’ will be rejected.)