How Pure is Our Rainwater?  Project Harvest Results Postponed

Posted

Over the past three years 21 participants around Globe-Miami collected rainwater, sending more than 1,000 samples for laboratory analysis. How clean is rainwater? Results may surprise you and they’ll be presented July 29 when Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta and project volunteer Miriam Jones host this week’s Cooperative Extension webinar online at 11 a.m. Free weekly online forums hosted by University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Gila County don’t require pre-registratiom. Guests are welcome to login up to 10 minutes before it begins at arizona.zoom.us/j/83638944428. An easy, convenient way to connect is via ‘click here’ direct hotlinks at extension.arizona.edu/gila, where you can also view dozens of prior Thursday webinar topics ranging from soil preparation to winter gardening,  container gardening and more. University of Arizona Gila County Cooperative Extension Agent Chris Jones hosts this popular series, and Cooperative Extension’s website has an array of links to programs, talks and resources. Links are also conveniently posted each week on Facebook, where you can join Chris Jones and a network of Gila County gardeners at  facebook.com/gilaextension. Want to be added to an email invite list for these gardening and horticulture workshops?  Call Chris Jones, Extension Agent, University of Arizona Gila County Cooperative Extension  at (928) 402-8586 or email ckjones@email.arizona.edu

Webinar Overview: In a great example of ‘citizen science’, Dr Ramirez-Andreotta and her team  conducted a three-year research project to learn about and practice rainwater harvesting to irrigate home and community gardens in Arizona, called Project Harvest. While the benefits of harvesting rainwater are recognized, there is a lack of information regarding the quality of harvested water and there are no monitoring programs. Citizen scientists collected environmental samples from residential, school, and/or community gardens irrigated by harvested rainwater to monitor the quality of harvested rainwater, soil, and plants between 2017-2020. Together, Dr Ramirez and citizen scientists generated a dataset to inform guidelines and recommendations for safe, harvested rainwater use on gardens and support communities to safely and sustainably produce their own foods using harvested rainwater.  
Speakers:. Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta is a community-engaged environmental health scientist and assistant professor of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. Ramírez-Andreotta’s laboratory uses an environmental justice framework to investigate the fate and transport of pollutants in environmental systems, exposure pathways, cultural models of communication, and methods to improve environmental health literacy. As such, she is often found listening to and training communities and hosting community gatherings and data sharing events. Miriam Jones is a community health worker and is trained as an English-Spanish interpreter. She engaged with organizations, families, and individuals interested in becoming Citizen scientists through the Project Harvest in the Globe-Miami area.