Achievements of Volunteer Monitoring Programs Across the Nation

Every so often we hear some especially exciting news about volunteer monitoring program happenings from our colleagues nationwide. We thought having a page where we list some of these achievements would be a good way to keep track of great steps our programs have taken. Please let us know breaking news from your region of the country so we can compile a comprehensive list of accomplishments.

August 2008

Streamkeepers of Clallam County, Washington, succeed in having their data used for State impaired waters lists

Streamkeepers of Clallam County, Washington, succeeded in having the Washington Department of Ecology accept and utilize their macroinvertebrate benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) data for listing impaired waters of the state to the US Environmental Protection Agency. They have worked over the past four years to see this become a reality. We have included excerpts from Clallam County's "In the Flow" newsletter to better describe the project:

April 2004:
Under the federal Clean Water Act, the Washington Department of Ecology is charged with protecting and restoring the waters of the state. Under rules of the Act, the Department must assess the state's waters and devise lists of "Impaired" and "Of concern" waters along with clean-up plans (TMDL's) for waters found to be impaired. Streamkeepers submitted data for Ecology's 2004 assessment. Included in those data were results of benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, analyzed using the Benthic Index of Biological Integrity (B-IBI) developed by Dr. James Karr of the University of Washington, which showed impairment in a number of sites not otherwise known to be impaired. We were the first party to ever submit such data to the State. After reviewing our documentation, Ecology accepted the data and our impairment calls, but they put those sites on a special list, "Impaired by a non-pollutant," which would mean that those sites wouldn't have to be restored under the Clean Water Act. The Streamkeeper Program objected via letter to the Department's treatment of these data, arguing that they should treated similarly to other impairment data.

September 2005:
The EPA sided with the Streamkeepers regarding use of their macroinvertebrate B-IBI data for state impaired waters lists and is preparing to require the State not to simply put that data on the shelf, but to either investigate the source of the impairment or automatically list the affected sites along with other impaired sites on the next published list. This could aid in the early protection of many streams in Clallam County, particularly in urbanizing areas.

August 2008:
The latest impaired waters list for the State of Washington has been published, and the Streamkeepers B-IBI "Impaired" sites are now listed as biologically impaired, alongside other impairment data. Some differences of interpretation remain, but the overall point has been made. Furthermore, the last the Streamkeepers knew, the WA Department of Ecology was planning to hire staff to specifically deal with biological impairment and its causes, and a coalition of regional groups who collect B-IBI data have submitted a proposal to the Department to fund the collection, standardization, and interpretation of all the regional B-IBI data that have been collected thus far-a sizable body of data. This would be a major step forward in achieving the goals of the Clean Water Act in Washington State.

New Jersey Watershed Watch Develops Oil Spill Toolkit

The New Jersey Watershed Watch Network recently completed an Oil Spill Toolkit designed to assist volunteers and monitoring coordinators in recruiting, training and managing a crisis. This kit was created by money from EPA Region 2. Watershed Watch is a program of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). They worked with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network to develop this kit. The US Coast Guard is now considering using this kit in times of a spill as well. A press release about the kit follows:

On November 27, 2004 the Athos I spilled over 473,400 gallons of crude oil into the Delaware River.   Immediately citizens, volunteers and river enthusiast began contacting the Volunteer Monitoring Program Coordinator at the NJDEP and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network to provide donations and assistance. 

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the NJ Watershed Watch Network began assigning volunteers to segments of tidal creeks and estuaries to conduct visual assessments of the migration of the oil contamination, and oiled waterfowl.  The volunteers were assigned to areas of concern.  The areas of concern were defined through the cooperation of the Natural Resources Damage staff and the volunteer program.  As volunteers found problems or immediate concerns, NJDEP would immediate contact the Coast Guard and the problem would be documented and corrected.  At on point there were over 70 eyes and ears watching for the NJDEP.

A toolkit with protocols and tip sheets has been developed.  The goal of the toolkit is to provide the volunteer monitoring community with an outline/protocol to follow.  As a volunteer monitoring program you should take a look at the toolkit and see what may work for your region and what you may need to change; also consider how you would train the volunteers.  We created outreach materials for the volunteer monitoring programs to give to citizens when in the field, press releases and other important information.  We would like to thank all involved including, the volunteers that provided feedback, EPA region 2 for helping with funding and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network Staff for their authoring and assisting with the creation of this important tool.  

For more information about the kit, contact Danielle Donkersloot. We have also posted the toolkit online on this site. View toolkit >> (914 KB pdf file)

NJ DEP Uses Great Swamp Watershed Association Data to Amend Standards

The Great Swamp Watershed Association in Harding Township, New Jersey, was recently recognized in a feature article of the Daily Record of Morris County, NJ, to acknowledge use of the volunteer-generated data by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The monitoring group assesses quality in numerous tributaries to the Passaic River, which is a drinking water source for at least a million people. The volunteers assess such parameters as nitrates, salt, conductivity, total dissolved solids, and turbidity, among others. Their monitoring is part of a three year study. The article is accessible for a purchase price at: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200808050405/COMMUNITIES19/808050325

However, coordinator Kelly Curran shared another recent press release with us about the program:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 17, 2008
How Clean Is Our Water?
GSWA Stream Monitoring Programs Keep It In Check
NJ DEP Uses GSWA Data to Amend Standards
Next Sampling Date: August 5th

HARDING TWP, NJ – Staff and volunteers from the Great Swamp Watershed Association will be sampling the waters from Great Brook at six testing sites throughout Harding and Morris Townships on Tuesday, August 5th, as part of their continuing efforts to monitor stream quality in the watershed.

Great Brook is one of five streams in the Great Swamp Watershed and is the second to be targeted by GSWA for a three-year water quality study.

Earlier this year, GSWA submitted to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection a final report from its first comprehensive study, which took place at sampling points along Loantaka Brook in Morris Township between 2005 and 2007. NJ DEP used the data to help reduce by 60 percent the acceptable limit of phosphorus discharged from sewage treatment plants in the watershed. Phosphorus, a naturally occurring nutrient essential to plant and animal life, is a by-product of human and animal waste. Too much fosters excessive algae growth, which depletes the dissolved oxygen supply for fish, is more expensive to clean for drinking water, and diminishes our recreational experiences.

“Water quality is a major national issue, but one where we can have a dramatic impact at a very local level—right in our own backyards,” explains Kelley Curran, GSWA Water Quality Programs Director.

GSWA “Stream Teams” work under the direction of Ms. Curran, and include professional and community volunteers who are trained to conduct visual or chemical assessments. “We welcome anyone who is interested in protecting the environment,’ notes Ms. Curran. “And we are lucky enough to have some highly regarded scientists in our community willing to volunteer.”

A Valuable Service to the State

“It’s worth noting that the NJ DEP recognizes and values volunteer programs like ours,” adds Ms. Curran. “With some 18,000 miles of streams in New Jersey, the state realizes it doesn’t have the manpower to conduct such massive screening alone.”

In order to validate its data, GSWA must use a state-approved laboratory to conduct the water analysis.

“We’re often asked why we study only one stream at a time,” adds Sally Rubin, GSWA Executive Director. “Or, why we can’t do more. The answer is money. Laboratory analysis is expensive, but the results should be of interest to everyone. That’s why it’s important for everyone to support local nonprofit and volunteer groups like their local watershed associations.” GSWA receives funding for its stream monitoring initiatives from corporate donors through its Adopt-A-Stream program. The program seeks to restore and improve the water quality of the five streams flowing into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and, ultimately, into the Passaic River—a primary source of drinking water for over 1 million people.

The sampling along Great Brook on August 5th will be the third round drawn from the sites this year. Just like the Loantaka Brook project, samples here are studied to determine the water’s content of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). Results obtained in the first two monitoring rounds have shown that in most samples from Great Brook, the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards that apply to nitrates and phosphorus are being met. However, the more stringent quality objectives for this stream, established in 2002 by the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee, are frequently being exceeded. The concentration of TDS also meets the NJ standard of 500 milligrams per liter (mg/L) at all the sampled sites. However, one of the sites, in a more heavily developed part of Morris Township, TDS measured 450 mg/L, which is significantly higher than the other stream segments and uncomfortably close to the NJ standard.

“Being closer to Morristown, this portion of the stream is more vulnerable to contamination by deicing materials deposited on local roads and parking lots,” explains Roger Edwards of Long Hill Township, a GSWA Stream Team volunteer who participates in both visual and chemical monitoring. “Our analysis confirms that road salt, which is made up of sodium and chloride ions, contributes significantly to the TDS concentrations in Great Brook.” Although deicing materials are used only in winter months, their retention in soils and subsequent leaching into shallow groundwater can lead to year-round contamination of streams.

“Our stream monitoring program demonstrates how volunteer and nonprofit groups can raise red flags about potential environmental issues and get the state to come take a closer look. That’s very powerful,” concludes GSWA Executive Director Ms. Rubin.

# # #

Founded in 1981, the Great Swamp Watershed Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the water and land of the 36,000-acre watershed region in Morris and Somerset counties. The organization works to maintain the beauty and health of open space, and to monitor and protect five streams: Loantaka Brook, Great Brook, Primrose Brook, Black Brook, and the Upper Passaic — which feed into the Passaic River, which in turn provides drinking water to more than a million people.

New Jersey High School Students convene to share their water testing results

Several times throughout the last school year, students at Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls, NJ donned wading boots, grabbed their water testing gear and headed out for the Peckman River which runs behind the school.   The students have been conducting chemical tests on the water and determining what animals live on the stream bottom. They recorded their results throughout the year, developed a research project and presented it at the first annual conference of the “Passaic River Environmental Education and Monitoring Organization” (PREEMO, www.preemo-msu.org) on May 28th at Montclair State University (MSU) in Montclair, NJ--  along with the three other schools that are participating in this project organized by MSU’s Passaic River Institute. 

At the conference, the students from Passaic Valley High School gave a presentation entitled “What the Peck, man?  Passaic Valley High School investigates the Peckman River from source to mouth.”  For this report, the class traveled to four different points along the Peckman River in one day, making chemical tests at each spot.  The testing began at the start of the Peckman River and was completed near its end.  Their report summarized what they found in their investigation.  Each of the students had a role in their oral presentation which included Powerpoint for their graphs and pictures of their trip to the various points along the river.

When asked what he thought the students gained from this study of the Peckman, teacher Mr. Billy Goodman stated “We’d been studying that one spot on the Peckman River (behind Passaic Valley High School) all year. It was an eye opener to see where the river started…when it was just a little stream.  It was nice for them to see what the river looked like at it’s beginning and to see that chemically it was very clean with very little nitrogen or phosphates and so forth.”  

Megan Protze, one of Mr. Goodman’s AP Environmental Science students stated, “Getting to learn about the river was integral (to the coursework).  It was interesting to see that the river wasn’t as dirty as we all thought it was. As corny as it sounds, we felt we got to know the river. We thought we were qualified to talk about it. I hope that future classes get to experience the class as we did.” 

Other participating schools included Barringer High School in Newark, Newark Academy in Livingston and Wallington High School in Wallington, NJ.  New to the program for the 2008/2009 school year will be the Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair.

The PREEMO project is funded by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency through June 2009.  The Passaic River Institute is seeking funding to continue the program.

May 2007

Rhode Island: University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch celebrated its 20th anniversary.

URI Watershed Watch celebrates 20th season; seeks volunteers to monitor lakes, ponds, streams

Media Contact: Todd McLeish, 401-874-2116

401-874-4552