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Volunteer Monitoring
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Across the country, trained citizen volunteers are monitoring the condition of their local streams, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands. EPA encourages all citizens to learn about their water resources and supports volunteer monitoring because of its many benefits. Volunteer monitors build awareness of pollution problems, become trained in pollution prevention, help clean up problem sites, provide data for waters that may otherwise be unassessed, and increase the amount of water quality information available to decision makers at all levels of government.
The Volunteer Monitor, Summer 2008 (PDF) (24 pp, 554K)
World Water Monitoring Day/Celebrate Monitoring Month
Fact sheets | Methods | Newsletter | Listserver | Directory | Conferences/Events | Links
Fact sheets
- Starting Out in Volunteer Water Monitoring (PDF) (4 pp, 837K) - Describes the process of starting out in volunteer monitoring.
- EPA's Volunteer Monitoring Program - Describes EPA's support for volunteer monitoring, including a list of EPA volunteer monitoring documents.
- Dip Into Volunteer Monitoring (PDF) (2 pp, 354K) describes the annual Great North American Secchi Dip In, an international volunteer monitoring event
Methods
- The Volunteer Monitor's Guide to Quality Assurance Project Plans - Discusses EPA's guidance for documenting quality assurance methods, project organization, goals and objectives, with examples and references.
- Volunteer Estuary Monitoring: A Methods Manual - Methods for volunteer monitoring of estuarine waters.
- Volunteer Lake Monitoring: A Methods Manual - Methods for volunteer monitoring of lakes.
- Volunteer Stream Monitoring: A Methods Manual - Methods for volunteer monitoring of streams.
- Volunteer Wetland Monitoring: An Introduction and Resource Guide - Describes a selection of handbooks and manuals that offer detailed information on volunteer wetland monitoring.
Newsletter
- The Volunteer Monitor - Past and current issues of The Volunteer Monitor, a national newsletter published twice yearly. This project has been partially funded under cooperative agreement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of EPA, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation of use.
Listserver
The Volmonitor Listserver connects volunteer water monitoring program coordinators nationwide by serving as an internet forum for questions, announcements, and discussion on topics of interest to the volunteer monitoring community.
Directory
- Introduction to the National Directory of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Programs (5th edition, 1998) - Interprets and summarizes the findings of the national survey of volunteer monitoring programs.
- National Directory of Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Programs (database) - This electronic database contains updated information on volunteer monitoring programs nationwide.
Conferences/Events
- World Water Monitoring Day/Celebrate Monitoring Month
- Sixth National Monitoring Conference
- Proceedings - Sixth National Volunteer Monitoring Conference - Moving Into the Mainstream - April 26 - 29, 2000, Austin, Texas.
- Proceedings (PDF) (223 pp, 846K) - Fifth National Volunteer Monitoring Conference - Promoting Watershed Stewardship - August 3-7, 1996, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Wisconsin
Related Links
- Volunteer Activities in Coasts and Oceans
- USDA CSREES Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring National Facilitation Project
- World Water Monitoring Day
- Great American Secchi Dip In
- Third-Party TMDL Development Tool Kit (PDF) (30 pp, 1.7MB)
- Volunteer Biological Monitoring: Can It Accurately Assess the Ecological
Condition of Streams? (PDF) (14 pp, 731K), Sarah R. Engel and J. Reese Voshell, Jr.. 2002. American Entomologist 48 (3): 164-177.
- Volunteer Stream Monitoring Aquatic Insect Interactive Verification Program (University of Minnesota)
- Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates of the Upper Midwest (University of Minnesota)