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Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman joined Water Quality Specialist Taylor Seijo in Rocky Mount on Wednesday to welcome new members to the Water Watch team.

“It was great,” Katey said. “We had 10 people, and everyone was really excited to be there. Pretty much everyone that was there signed up for a site, so we should have at least five or six more claimed Water Watch sites.”

Held at Braswell Memorial Library, the training focused on instructing Water Watchers how to collect scientific observations about water quality, flooding, erosion and habitat, as well as spot the telltale signs of water pollution.

Katey said many of this training’s attendees were people she had met through her work on data centers in the area. Edgecombe County and the City of Rocky Mount are currently considering data center proposals.

“Obviously, the people who are engaged in the data center issue are concerned about water resources and water quality, so it’s good to see the connections we formed there extend to Water Watch,” Katey said.

Since Water Watch began in April 2025, Sound Rivers’ Riverkeeping team has hosted trainings in Oriental, Blounts Creek, New Bern, Washington, Kinston, Greenville, Goldsboro, Tarboro, Durham and Rocky Mount. Now, more than 100 volunteers are monitoring over 100 sites on the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico and their tributaries, which means the Riverkeeping team is receiving reports of any issues on those waterways in real time.

“The more people we have on the Water Watch team, the more we know about the overall health of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico, and be able to report any issues to the proper authorities when bad stuff, like fish kills and sewage spills, happen,” Katey said.

The Riverkeeping team is currently recording Water Watch training videos to share with interested volunteers.

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