Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Extension Activities

Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment

Identifying a water quality problem in receiving waters is often the first step in the watershed management process. Water quality monitoring and assessment programming within the USDA CSREES National Water Quality Program not only gathers and manages valuable water quality data, it also educates and empowers stakeholders on watershed and water quality issues.

Extension activities pertaining to "Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment" can be broken into the following categories (linked further down this page):
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
Other Monitoring Efforts
Water Quality Data Storage and Interpretation

Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
stream sampling with the Tahoe-Truckee Snapshot Day Volunteer water quality monitoring programs often serve as the critical first link that engages the public in watershed stewardship. Volunteer monitoring programs improve the understanding of local water resources, encourage individual and community involvement in water quality protection and restoration efforts, and help communities make informed decisions that improve water quality.

Extension Volunteer Monitoring Programs
Cooperative Extension has a history of sponsoring or co-sponsoring volunteer water quality monitoring programs. As of August 2008, 49 such Extension programs exist in the United States and its territories with more than 8,500 trained citizen scientists actively engaged in grassroots stewardship efforts; the earliest program was initiated in 1978 and the most recent in 2008. CSREES funds a project for the National Facilitation of CSREES Volunteer Monitoring Efforts . Through this project’s website, you can find contact information and links to these Extension Volunteer Monitoring Programs and learn about program successes .

Accomplishments:
Monitoring data from the Tahoe-Truckee Snapshot Day will be used in the Lake Tahoe TMDL Project and UC Davis Lake Tahoe Clarity Model and may impact decision-making and policy formation.

One hundred thousand acres of clam flats on the Maine coast were opened for harvest between 1990 and 2002 with the help of Maine Shore Stewards .

stream monitoring with the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Partnership National Facilitation Efforts
The National Facilitation of CSREES Volunteer Monitoring Efforts Project between the Universities of Rhode Island and Wisconsin coordinates and disseminates relevant information within and about the Extension Volunteer Monitoring Network. This project queried programs in the Network and summarized findings on the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and challenges; established a listserv and website , developed a “Guide to Growing CSREES Volunteer Monitoring Programs”, and developed curricula and conducted volunteer monitoring training workshops in three CSREES regions.

Accomplishments:
Assumed leadership role as a national service provider for volunteer water quality monitoring,
Enhanced communication among existing Extension volunteer monitoring programs nationwide,
Reduced the effort needed to start new volunteer monitoring programs or to expand existing programs,
Lent support and credibility to previously isolated programs,
Facilitated local data sharing and internet learning,
Expanded volunteer opportunities due to enhanced local and state capacity for Extension volunteer monitoring programs,
Strengthened strategic partnerships within the Extension Volunteer Monitoring Network and between CSREES and other agencies, and
Enhanced recognition of CSREES volunteer monitoring efforts as a viable component of the water monitoring community.

URI Watershed Watch volunteers Regional Collaborative Efforts
Extension volunteer monitoring programs have a history of collaboration. For instance, New England Extension volunteer monitoring programs, joining forces with other monitoring programs, formed the New England Regional Monitoring Collaborative (NERMC) to coordinate the delivery of training and related services regionally.

Accomplishments:
NERMC has developed five assessment tools that give water quality monitoring and watershed groups throughout New England the “big picture” and the “bottom line” on the ecological integrity of their watersheds and expand upon conventional monitoring techniques.

New Englanders have participated in a series of “train the trainer” workshops geared to provide hands-on training of the monitoring tools developed by NERMC. Individuals who participate in these workshops, including state and regional agency representatives, local conservation organizations, and volunteer water quality coordinators and monitors, apply their learning by teaching others and conducting these assessments in their home watersheds.

In another New England collaboration, volunteer water quality monitoring is playing a key role: the Northern New England Lake Education Action Project (LEAP) , a CSREES Extension Education Project between the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Partnerships
While engaging stakeholders, Extension volunteer monitoring programs have many opportunities to collaborate and partner with other agencies and organizations, including local watershed associations. Extension volunteer monitoring program coordinators:
serve on the editorial board of and contribute to The Volunteer Monitor newsletter - partially funded by US EPA.,
represent the volunteer monitoring community on the National Water Quality Monitoring Council ,
serve on the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) , and
participated with USGS in the formation of the National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI) , a web-based searchable compendium containing chemical, physical, radiochemical, microbiological and biological method summaries.

Other Monitoring Efforts
Northwest Indian College monitoring Land Grant Universities may also run programs that sample, monitor, and analyze water quality for local agencies, organizations, or Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) efforts.

Accomplishment:
Since 1987, the Northwest Indian College’s Research Department expanded its water quality monitoring (fecal coliform certified laboratory) from 9 to 66 stations monitored twice per month. The sample results helped target monitoring and inspection efforts to identify fecal coliform sources and are the principle means of evaluating the effectiveness of management practices implemented to reduce fecal coliform levels and meet targets established as part of the Nooksack River Watershed Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) .

Water Quality Data Storage and Interpretation
Effective databases are critical for local data sharing and internet learning. Extension programs are involved in efforts to make water quality data accessible to stakeholders. In addition, these programs strive to assist in the interpretation of this water quality data.

Accomplishments:
Michigan State University Extension utilized the US EPA’s STORET database to create their Water Quality Data Access System .

The National Facilitation of CSREES Volunteer Monitoring Efforts Project developed an online database that is being tested with the Water Action Volunteers Program . This National Facilitation Project listed and researched existing databases of other volunteer monitoring programs across the nation. A fact sheet based on database development is in preparation to help promote efficient and successful database development in programs across the nation.
Water Action Volunteers Citizen Monitoring Database logo
Extension volunteer monitoring programs have generated annual reports and fact sheets that list and interpret their volunteer monitoring data. There are numerous examples from New England Extension volunteer monitoring programs alone.

Extension volunteer water quality monitoring data is often used by states in listings of impaired waters, commonly referred to as 305(b) Reports and 303(d) Lists which are mandated by the US EPA. Extension programs, such as University of Florida Extension , work to educate stakeholder about this listing process.

The intent of this page is not to catalogue all activities but rather to indicate the types of Extension activities in the Watershed Management theme across the U.S.