Developing a Rigorous Water Quality Database Through a Volunteer Monitoring Network

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lake and reservoir managers, as well as affected citizen groups, have increasingly recognized the need for extensive watershed-level land use and water quality data in developing effective lake management strategies. Water quality data, in particular, from lake or reservoir tributaries is essential for identifying and quantifying point and nonpoint sources of pollutants. The realization of these informational needs, coupled with the personnel and financial resource constraints that limit most governmental agency monitoring programs, have helped to spawn a multitude of citizen-organized volunteer water quality monitoring programs. This paper describes a unique volunteer-based monitoring network, which in cooperation with a university laboratory, is developing laboratory monitoring data using EPA-certified methods at minimal cost. The program consists of 45 stream sites, each of which is staffed by two or more volunteers. The network is sampled monthly for 12 parameters including various nutrients and heavy metals. This program appears to have the unique capacity of providing STORET-acceptable data while simultaneously functioning as a highly visible quality education/awareness program within the local community.