Managing Pathogen Pollution
Students will focus on the role of pathogens as a major type of nonpoint source pollution affecting the Lower Grand River Watershed. Pathogens are bacteria, viruses, and other substances that can make people sick. Students will be able to:
- Identify pathogens as a major pollutant.
- Determine how pathogens enter a lake, river, or stream system.
- Identify the distribution of pathogens in various parts of the Lower Grand River Watershed.
- Explore ways to reduce pathogens in our local water bodies.
Resource Links
The number and letter codes preceding the title of each resource listed corresponds with the number and letter codes used in the text of the lesson. Please let us know if any of the links are broken and we will fix them as soon as possible.
Link 3A – Lower Grand River Watershed Management Plan https://www.gvsu.edu/wri/isc/lower-grand-river-watershed-management-plan-312.htm
Link 3B – Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds website https://www.lgrow.org/watershedmanagementplan.
Link 3C – Adopt a Beach Lessons https://www.glo.texas.gov/education/texas-coast/
Link 3D – BeachGuard https://www.deq.state.mi.us/beach/
Link 3E – Can the poop detectives solve a pollution mystery? https://www.cacaponinstitute.org/PHSWR%20Bookshelf/poop_detectives.htm
Link 3F – Centers for Disease Control – Waterborne Disease https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/surveillance/
Link 3G – Citizens Monitoring Bacteria: A training manual for monitoring E. coli https://cels.uri.edu/docslink/ww/BacteriaWorkshop/EColiManual.pdf
Link 3H – Go with the Flow https://www.wef.org/PublicInformation/page.aspx?id=152
Link 3I – Homeowners Guide to Septic Systems https://extensionhealthyhomes.org/Documents/homeowner_guide_long.pdf
Link 3J – Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds (LGROW) https://www.lgrow.org/watershedmanagementplan
Link 3K – Michigan Department of Environmental Quality https://www.michigan.gov/deq/
Link 3L – Microbial (Pathogen)/Recreational Water Quality Criteria https://www.epa.gov/wqc/microbial-pathogenrecreational-water-quality-criteria#2012rec
Link 3M – Michigan Nonpoint Source Best Management Practices Manual https://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-wb-nps-Intro_250601_7.pdf
Link 3N – Michigan Water Stewardship Program https://www.miwaterstewardship.org/
Link 3O -MIWATERS https://miwaters.deq.state.mi.us/nsite/
Link 3P – Nonpoint Source Pollution Environmental Resources Guides https://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/32/31853.pdf
Link 3Q – Safe Waters, Healthy Waters: A guide for citizen groups on bacterial monitoring in local waterways https://www.cwp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SAFE-WATERS-Guide_Final.pdf
Link 3R – Project WET https://www.projectwet.org/
The Communities for Clean Water videos and lessons plans were created in partnership with WGVU and the GVSU Annis Water Resources Institute. They were made possible through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.