Cooperative Extension sponsored or co-sponsored Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs

Link to National Water Quality Program website

Cooperative Extension Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs

When we first started this project we identified 27 volunteer water quality monitoring programs sponsored, co-sponsored or affiliated with Cooperative Extension in the United States and its territories. As of 2011, there are more than 50! We are always looking for programs we have missed and have had help from people across the country to find 'new' programs. We identify below which programs are sponsored or co-sponsored by Cooperative Extension and which are affiliated in other ways -- such as by providing technical assistance with trainings, educational materials, equipment, or meeting space for volunteer monitoring events.

The map above shows where and to what extent Cooperative Extension is involved in volunteer water quality monitoring across the nation.

The first of these programs began in 1978, the most recent in 2010. In parentheses next to each program's name is the year that the program began. Program volunteers are monitoring a wide range of aquatic habitats including rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, estuaries, and drinking water wells.

In the directory that follows, we've tried our best to keep the contact information current. Many programs have websites and we have created links to these sites for your convenience. We encourage you to explore the wide range of Extension volunteer monitoring programs and contact those that interest you. All our coordinators are more than happy to share their expertise and enthusiasm with you! For programs that are CE-affliated, contacts listed are usually Extension staff who work with the program, thus are generally not the program coordinators.

We now have a listing of Master Naturalist and Master Watershed Steward Programs in the U.S., many of which are sponsored or co-sponsored by Extension and which are invovled with volunteer monitoring efforts locally. view list of Master Naturalist Programs >>

Alabama	Arizona
Alabama Water Watch (1992) Bill Deutsch Auburn University 250 Upchurch Hall Auburn AL 36849-5419 Phone ( toll free): 1-888-844-4785 Fax: 334-844-3666 Email: awwprog@auburn.edu	NEMO Wet/Dry (2007) Dr. Terry Sprouse Senior Research Specialist University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center 350 N. Campbell Avenue Tucson, AZ 85719 Phone: 520-621-9591 ext. 13 Fax: 520-792-8518 tsprouse@cals.arizona.edu
Arizona	Arizona
Arizona Master Watershed Steward Program Candice Rupprecht Statewide Coordinator University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Forbes 301, PO Box 210036 Tucson, AZ 85721 Phone: (520) 621-1268 candicer@cals.arizona.edu	Private Well Monitoring Karen Pizzuto University of Arizona Cooperative Extension of Yavapai County 500 S. Marina PO Box 388 Prescott, AZ 86302 Phone: 928-445-6590 x223 kpizzuto@cals.arizona.edu
California	California
Tahoe-Truckee Snapshot Day (2001) Mary Kay Wagner Nevada Divison of Environmental Protection 901 S. Stewart St., Ste 4001 Carson City, NV 89701-5249 Phone: (775) 687-9454 mkwagner@ndep.nv.gov Susie Kocher Natural Resources Advisor, RPF #2874 UC Cooperative Extension - El Dorado County 1061 3rd Street South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 Phone: (530) 542-2571 sdkocher@ucdavis.edu	Early Detection of Quagga and Zebra Mussels (2008 only) Valerie Borel Watershed and Wildfire Ed. Coord. University of California Cooperative Extension-Los Angeles & Ventura Co. 4800 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90022 Phone: (323) 260-3851 vtborel@ucdavis.edu
Colorado	Florida
North Fork Volunteer Monitoring Project (2001) Colorado State University Extension PO Box 133 124 Grand Ave, North Entrance Paonia, CO 81428 Phone: (970) 527-4614 Fax: (970) 527-4621 nfria@tds.net	Florida LAKEWATCH Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 7922 NW 71st Street Gainesville, FL 32653 Phone: (352) 392-4817 Fax: (352) 392-4902 Florida LakeWatch in Volusia County David Griffis Cooperative Extension Director University of Florida Extension Service Volusia County Agricultural Center 3100 E. New York Ave. DeLand, FL 32724 Phone: (386) 822-5778 DeLand (386) 257-6012 Daytona Beach (386) 423-3368 New Smyrna Beach dgriffis@co.volusia.fl.us
Georgia	Georgia
Coastal Adopt-a-Wetland Shelly Krueger Marine Extension Service 20 Ocean Science Circle Savannah, GA 31411 Phone: (912) 598-2348 x202 Fax: (912) 598-2302 krueger@uga.edu	Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (1992) Harold Harbert Environmental Protection Division 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101 Atlanta, GA 30354 Phone: (404) 675-6240 Fax: (404) 675-6245 aas@gaepd.org
Idaho	Indiana
Pacific NW Water Quality Monitoring Program (1999) Bob Simmons Washington State University Coop. Ext. 720 Sleater Kinney Road SE Lacey WA 98503-1142 Phone: (360) 786-5445 7915 Fax: (360) 704-7778 simmons@wsu.edu	Hoosier Riverwatch(1996) Lisa Ritter-McMahan Indiana DNR-Div of Soil Conservation Fort Harrison State Park-NREC 5785 Glenn Road Indianapolis IN 46216-1066 Phone: (317) 541-0617 Fax: (317) 562-0790 riverwatch@in.gov
Iowa	Kansas
IOWATER (1998) Brian Soenon Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wallace State Office Building 502 E. 9th Street Des Moines IA 50319 Phone: (515) 281-6640 Fax: (515) 281-8895 Brian.Soenen@dnr.state.ia.us	Private well monitoring (1994) Daniel Devlin Kansas State University 2011B Throckmorton Hall Manhattan KS 66506 Phone: (785) 532-0393 Fax: (785) 532-6315 ddevlin@oznet.ksu.edu
Kentucky	Kentucky
Dr. Carol Handley University of Kentucky Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment 107 Dimock Bldg Lexington, KY 40546-0076 Phone: (859) 257-3780 chanley@uky.edu	Kentucky Watershed Watch 639 Cardinal Lane Lexington, KY 40503 Phone: 1-800-928-0045 Ext 473 kywwp@igc.org Four Rivers Watershed Watch (a KY Water Watch Program) Karla Johnston Volunteer Support Coordinator Hancock Biological Station Phone: (270) 474-2272 karla.johnston@murraystate.edu
Maine	Maine
Maine Healthy Beaches Program (2003) Keri Lindberg University of Maine Cooperative Extension / Sea Grant 377 Manktown Rd Waldoboro, ME 04572 Phone: (207) 832-0343 klindberg@umext.maine.edu	Signs of the Seasons: A Maine Phenology Program (2010) Esperanza Stancioff, Climate Change Educator University of Maine Cooperative Extension/Maine Sea Grant 377 Manktown Rd Waldoboro, ME 04572 Phone: (207) 832-0343 esp@maine.edu
Massachusetts	Michigan
Martha's Vineyard Pond Monitoring Bill Wilcox University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension PO Box 1696 Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 Phone: (508) 693-0694	Lake Superior Lake Watch (1991) Ronald Kinnunen Michigan State University 710 Chippewa Square, Suite 202 Marquette MI 49855 Phone: (906) 226-3687 kinnune1@msu.edu
Michigan	Michigan
Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) (2003) Bill Dimond– MiCorps Coordinator Michigan Department of Environmental Quality 525 West Allegan Street P.O. Box 30458 Lansing, MI 48909-7958 Phone: 517-241-9565 DimondW@michigan.gov Jo Latimore Michigan State University 13 Natural Resources East Lansing MI 48824-1222 Phone: 517-432-1491 latimor1@msu.edu	Flint River Watershed Coalition (1999) Darren Bagley G-4215 W. Pasadena Flint, MI 48504-2376 Phone: (810) 244-8524 bagleyda@msu.edu
Minnesota	Minnesota
Red River Basin River Watch (2010) Annette Drewes 251 Owen Hall 2900 University Ave Crookston, MN 56716 Phone:(218) 766-1342 aldrewes@umn.edu	Lake Superior Duluth Streams City of Duluth Storm Water Office Phone: (218) 730-4130
Missouri	Missouri
Missouri Stream Team (1989) Susan Higgins ST VWQM Coordinator Missouri Dept. Natural Resources - Water Protection Program P.O. Box 176 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176 Phone: (573) 526-1002 Fax: 573/522-9920 Susan.Higgins@dnr.mo.gov Wayne Maresch ST VWQM Coordinator Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources - Environmental Services Program Truman State Park 28761 State Park Rd. West Warsaw, MO 65355 Phone: (660) 438-2805 Wayne.Maresch@dnr.mo.gov	Missouri Stream Team (1989) (contacts continued) Chris Riggert ST VWQM Coordinator Missouri Dept. Conservation - Streams Unit P.O. Box 180 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 Phone: (573) 522-4115 x 3167 Fax: 573/526-0990 Chris.Riggert@mdc.mo.gov Amy Junclaus ST Biologist Missouri Dept. Conservation - Streams Unit P.O. Box 180 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 Phone: (573) 526-4115 x 3166 Fax: 573/526-0990 Amy.Junclaus@mdc.mo.gov Priscilla Stotts ST VWQM Coordinator Missouri Dept. Natural Resources - Water Protection Program P.O. Box 176 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176 Phone: (573) 526-3406 Fax: 573/522-9920 Priscilla.Stotts@dnr.mo.gov
Montana	Nevada
Montana Watercourse Kathryn S. Watson Education Outreach Coordinator Montana Watercourse 339 Culbertson Hall PO Box 170570 Bozeman, MT 59717 Phone: (406) 994-6425 kwatson@montana.edu Adam Sigler (Extension partner) PO Box 170575 Bozeman, MT 59717-0575 Phone: (406) 994-7381 asigler@montana.edu	Tahoe-Truckee Snapshot Day (2001) Mary Kay Wagner Nevada Divison of Environmental Protection 901 S. Stewart St., Ste 4001 Carson City, NV 89701-5249 Phone: (775) 687-9454 mkwagner@ndep.nv.gov Susie Kocher Natural Resources Advisor, RPF #2874 UC Cooperative Extension - El Dorado County 1061 3rd Street South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 Phone: (530) 542-2571 sdkocher@ucdavis.edu


New Hampshire	New Hampshire
Great Bay Coast Watch (1990) Dari Ward (interim Director) University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Kingman Farm UNH Durham NH 03824 Phone: (603) 749-1565 Fax: (603) 743-3997 dari.ward@unh.edu	NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (1978) Jeffrey Schloss University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension 131 Main Street 224 Nesmith Hall Durham NH 03824 Phone: (603) 862-3848 Fax: (603) 862-0107 jeff.schloss@unh.edu additional info: http://extension.unh.edu/WatRes/Pubs/llmp.pdf
New Jersey	New York
4-H River Rangers (Sussex County) Tom & Carol Diveny 77 Graphic Blvd Sparta, NJ 07871 tcediv@tellurian.net	Dutchess Watershed Stewards Carolyn Klocker Sr. Water Resource Educator Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County 2715 Route 44 Millbrook, NY 12545 Phone: ( 84) -677-8223, ext. 135 cak97@cornell.edu
New York	New York
Hudson River SAV Project Eugenia Barnaba Program Leader Institute for Resource Information Systems 303 Rice Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 Phone: (607) 255-0800 Fax: (607) 255-4662 emb6@cornell.edu	Community Water Watch Program Todd Stevenson, Program Coordinator Monroe County Department of Health Bureau of Environmental Quality 111 Westfall Road Rochester, NY 14620 Phone: (585) 753-5472 tstevenson@monroecounty.gov
New York	New York
Water Logging (2003) Angel Dybas Water Quality Monitoring on the Greater Huntington-Northport Bay Complex Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Coindre Hall 101 Browns Rd PO Box 554 Huntington, NY 11743 Phone: (631) 239-1800 ext. 21 Fax: (631) 239-1797 ald68@cornell.edu	Woodland Pool Steward Kristi Sullivan Cornell University 109 Fernow Hall Ithaca NY 14853 Phone: 607-255-5508 Fax: 607-255-2815 kls20@cornell.edu
New York	North Carolina
Community Fly Fisher (1996) Cornell Cooperative Ext. of Tomkins County 615 Willow Ave Ithaca NY 14850 Phone: (607) 272-2292 Fax: (607) 272-7088 tompkins@cornell.edu	Water Watch (2009) Roseann L’Esperance Community Educator City of Winston-Salem Stormwater Division PO Box 2511 Winston-Salem, NC 27102 Phone: (336) 747-6960 roseannl@cityofws.org Wendi Hartup Forsyth County Cooperative Extension 1450 Fairchild Rd Winston-Salem, NC 27105 Phone: (336) 703-2858 wendi_hartup@ncsu.edu
Ohio	Ohio
Ohio Clean Marina Program Ohio State University Extension Colleen Wellington Extension Educator, Clean Marinas Program Coordinator Ohio Sea Grant Extension Ohio Office of Coastal Management 105 West Shoreline Drive Sandusky, OH 44870 Colleen.Wellington@dnr.state.oh.us	Ohio State University Extension Jerry Iles OSU Extension - Athens County 280 West Union Athens, OH 45701 Phone: 800-297-2072 iles.9@osu.edu
Ohio	Oklahoma
Citizen Lake Awareness and Monitoring (CLAM) Progam William Lynch, Director Ohio State University Extension 355 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, Ohio 43210 Phone: Email:	Oklahoma Statewide Blue Thumb (2000) Oklahoma Conservation Commission Cheryl Cheadle Bristow OK Phone: (918) 398-1804 c heryl.cheadle@conservation.ok.gov
Oregon	Oregon
The Oregon Well Monitoring Program (2007) Laura Moscowitz Corvallis, OR (541) 207-7472 well.water@oregonstate.edu	Pacific NW Water Quality Monitoring Program (1999) Bob Simmons Washington State University Cooperative Extension 720 Sleater Kinney Road SE Lacey WA 98503-1142 Phone: (360) 786-5445 7915 Fax: (360) 704-7778 simmons@wsu.edu
Oregon	Pennsylvania
Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers (2000) Sandy Lyon Monitoring Coordinator 1758 N.E. Airport Road Roseburg, OR 97470 (541) 673-5756 X149 sandy@umpquarivers.org	Streamside Salamander Sampling in State Monitoring Programs (SPAR) (2000-2002) Robert P. Brooks The Penn State Cooperative Wetland Center Department of Geography The Pennsylvania State University 323 Walker Building University Park, PA 16802 Phone: (814) 863-1596 rpb2@psu.edu Gian L. Rocco Wildlife and Fisheries Science Phone: (814) 863-3194 gxr124@psu.edu
Rhode Island	South Carolina
URI Watershed Watch (1988) Linda Green University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Natural Resources Science Dept. URI 1 Greenhouse Road Kingston RI 02881 Phone: (401) 874-2905 Fax: (401) 874-4561 lgreen@uri.edu Elizabeth Herron Phone: (401) 874-4552 Fax: (401) 874-4561 emh@uri.edu	SC DNR SCORE (SC Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Program) (2001) Nancy Hadley South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Phone: (843) 953-9841 score.dnr.sc.gov
South Carolina	Utah
Clemson-Carolina Clear (2002) David Joyner Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service 259 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29401 Phone: (843) 722-5940 ext 125 djoyner@clemson.edu	Utah Lake Watch Eric Peterson USU Water Quality Extension Phone: (435) 797-2580 eric.peterson@usu.edu
Vermont	Vermont
Watershed Alliance (1999) Erin De Vries Education and Outreach Coordinator UVM Watershed Alliance Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory 3 College Street Burlington, VT 05401 Phone: (802) 859-3086 x305 erin.haney@uvm.edu	Vermont Lay Monitoring Program (1979) Amy Picotte Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Division 103 South Main St., Building 10 North Waterbury, VT 05671-0408 Phone: (802) 241-3789 amy.picotte@state.vt.us
Washington	Washington
Pacific NW Water Quality Monitoring Program (1999) Bob Simmons Washington State University Cooperative Extension 720 Sleater Kinney Road SE Lacey WA 98503-1142 Phone: (360) 786-5445 simmons@wsu.edu	WSU Beach Watchers (1989) Don Meehan Washington State University - CooperativeExtension Island County PO Box 5000 Coupeville WA 98239-5000 Phone: (360) 679-7327 beachwatchers@wsu.edu
Washington	West Virginia
Project WET Monitoring (2002) Dan Fagerlie, WET Project Director and Emily Burt, Extension Educator WSU/Ferry County Cooperative Extension 350 E. Delaware #9 Republic WA 99166 Phone: (509) 775-5225 emburt@wsu.edu fagerlie@wsu.edu	West Virginia Save Our Streams (1989) Glenn Nelson 601 57th Street, SE Charleston, WV 25304 Phone: (304) 926-0499 ext. 1040 ronald.g.nelson@wv.gov


Wisconsin	Wisconsin
Citizen Lake Monitoring Network (1986) Laura Herman Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources 107 Sutliff Avenue Rhinelander WI 54501-3349 Phone: (715) 365-8998 laura.herman@uwsp.edu	Clean Boats, Clean Waters (2003) Erin MacFarlane UWEX Lakes Program 800 Reserve St UW Stevens Point, CNR Stevens Point WI 54481 Phone: (715) 346-4978 erin.mcfarlane@uwsp.edu
Wisconsin	Wisconsin
Water Action Volunteers (1996) Kris Stepenuck University of Wisconsin 445 Henry Mall, Rm 202 Madison WI 53706-1577 Phone: (608) 265-3887 kris.stepenuck@ces.uwex.edu	Bad River Watershed Association (2002) Michele Wheeler 101 West Main St, Suite 353 PO Box 875 Ashland, WI 54806 Phone: (715) 682-2003 michele@badriverwatershed.org
Wisconsin	Wisconsin
Milwaukee Riverkeeper (2005) Cheryl Nenn 1845 N. Farwell Ave. Suite 100 Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: (414) 287-0207 ext. 2 cheryl_nenn@milwaukeeriverkeeper.org	WI Ephemeral Ponds Project (2007) Mary Holleback Riveredge Nature Center Newburg, WI Phone: 1-800-287-8098 maryh@riveredge.us

Please note, the programs listed on this page are not the only volunteer water quality monitoring programs in existence in the country. They represent only those that have a connection with Extension - whether as a sponsor, partner or affiliate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains an online directory of volunteer monitoring programs across the nation. More than 1000 programs are listed in that directory. It is accessible at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/volmon.nsf/Home?readform

Updated Friday, 04-Nov-2011 14:44:24 CDT

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