Transcript Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring in southeastern Wisconsin

Water Action Volunteers’
Citizen Stream Monitoring
Program
Kris Stepenuck - UW EX/WI DNR Statewide WAV
Coordinator
Mike Miller - WI DNR Baseline Stream Monitoring
Coordinator
Presentation Overview
1) Status of Water Action Volunteers’ (WAV)
Program
2) New and Future WAV Activities
3) WI Baseline Stream Monitoring &
Opportunities for Volunteer Monitors
Who’s participating in WAV?
• Established in 1996
• Citizens and school
groups
• 35 local programs
• Over 250 adults and 1000
students
Who’s Coordinating WAV?
Local Coordination
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DNR/UWEX
Counties / Municipalities
Non-profit Organizations
Nature Centers
Teachers
Interest Groups (e.g., T.U.,
Sierra Club)
What Assistance Does WAV Provide?
• Helps initiate local program
• Provides written methods
• Helps local groups obtain
equipment (often through a
W.E.R.C.)
• Sponsors “Train the Trainer”
events
• Helps to plan and carry out
local training events
WAV Assistance for Local Groups
• Provides statewide online
database
• Provides a website with
stream monitoring
information and
resources
• Provides a list server for
networking
• Analyzes data and
prepares summaries
What Types of Data Collected:
Data
Method
Frequency
Temperature
Thermometer
Monthly
Water clarity
Turbidity tube
Monthly
Dissolved oxygen
Hach Chemistry kit
Monthly
Biotic Index
D-net sampling
(macroinvertebrates)
Twice a year
(spring/fall)
Habitat
Site assessment
Once a year
Stream flow
Orange float method Monthly
Where WAVs Are Monitoring
Since 1996:
•135 streams and
rivers monitored
•Over 250 stream
sites assessed
•Data from over
100 stream sites
were submitted
via the web in
2003
Where to Obtain Equipment
Watershed Education
Resource Centers
(W.E.R.C.)
• 19 across the state
(see WAV website)
• Have a variety of
monitoring equipment
and resources
• Library-style loaning
Volunteer Monitoring
Can Be a Tiered Approach
(Why WAVS are monitoring):
Rigorous
Assessments
Problem Screening
Education and Advocacy
2) New and Future WAV Program
Additions
• Crayfish surveys (Summer
2004)
• Macroinvertebrate
wildcards (Summer 2004)
• Family-level
macroinvertebrate
identification key (Fall 2004)
• E. coli monitoring (Spring
2005- pilot)
• Understanding River Data
booklet (Summer 2005)
3) WI Baseline Stream Monitoring
Opportunities for Volunteer Assistance
Goals:
• Comprehensive
statewide assessment
• Establish status and
trends
• High quality, webaccessible information
for science-based
resource management
WI has 22,613 perennial streams
Baseline Stream Monitoring Effort
Since 1999:
1300 streams have been
surveyed
Data collected
•Fish Community
•Stream Habitat
•Macroinvertebrates
•Limited Water Chemistry
Gaps in Stream Data
Stream Monitoring Sites
Geographic
gaps in stream
data
Number of Perennial Streams in Wisconsin
by Stream Size (order).
1,868
(8% )
540
(2% )
148 (1% )
1st order
2nd order
3rd order
Small (lower-order)
streams are most
numerous but least
sampled in WI
4th order
5,313
(23% )
5th or
greater
14,744
(66%)!
Bridging the Stream Data Gap
• Ensure volunteers, academics and agencies
collect quality data using comparable
methods
• Collect meaningful and relevant data
• Volunteers may be able to help fill
geographic and small stream data gaps
Conclusions
• Volunteers can help bridge stream data gaps.
• Quality volunteer data will require increased
capacity to: train/certify citizen scientists, effectively
workplan, process field samples, and efficiently
capture and analyze data.
• Long-term cost savings can be realized by using
volunteer help.
• Along with education and resource advocacy,
improved stream assessment and management
can result from improved volunteer efforts.