Apr. 3—A Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is once again putting out the call for volunteers for an over 50-year program of monitoring water clarity in lakes and streams.
The Volunteer Water Monitoring Program is recruiting volunteers to occasionally check the water quality throughout the state of Minnesota, including several sites in and around Austin and in Mower County.
“It’s a great way to get outside, get on a lake and connect with a body of water,” said Waverly Reibel, program specialist for the MPCA.
The program currently has around 1,100 active volunteers that test their designated sites twice a month and then relay the information they gather back to the MPCA.
Those observations are focused on two primary areas: physical and recreational conditions of their lake or stream. Monitoring for streams is done April through September and May to September for lakes.
“It’s a bigger picture of water quality and it’s a really simple, easy, quick test,” Reibel said. “It acts like the blood pressure of the water body.”
The volunteers play an important role in the process simply based on numbers: It’s difficult for MPCA staff to get to Minnesota’s vast number of water bodies in the state.
With the number of years put into the program and the extended duration, which is now going into its 52nd year, the MPCA is able to avoid gaps in the data and can keep an accurate record from year to year.
In turn, this consistent flow of data can more easily indicate trends — which bodies of water are improving or which ones need work, for example.
“Utilizing the data clarifies trends showing declines or improvements in the quality of a lake or stream,” Reibel said. “It helps formally assess the health of lakes and streams.”
By visiting the program’s website, people can find an interactive map see what bodies of water and sites are available for the volunteer effort.
Inside Austin there are sites along the Cedar River and Dobbins Creek still available with even more sites along these same bodies of water out in the county as well as streams like Rose Creek and the Little Cedar River and streams leading into Lake Louise near LeRoy.
Reibel went on to say that many of those already signed up in the program have generational bonds by monitoring sites on waterways that often go through private properties, providing yet another notch in the consistency of the program.
“It enables consistency and longevity. Kids take over, grandkids take over,” Reibel said, adding that some volunteers are going on 40 years or more. “Having that consistency makes sure we’re getting high quality data.”
The volunteer-based program is just one more tool in the MPCA’s toolbox that can be joined with efforts of local groups and government agencies, including Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
The gathered data can be used in conjunction with those locally-sourced projects.
“It helps us track how well those projects are helping,” Reibel said. “Maybe there is an area where water clarity is decreasing. Maybe we need to focus on that area.”
People interested in being a part of the project can sign up throughout the monitoring period and Reibel said that all are welcome to take part.
“The more the merrier,” she said and then referring to Austin and the area, said: “We have tons of sites open, downtownish and outside of the city.”
The MPCA supplies all the equipment needed for involvement, requiring nothing from the participant other than a willingness to help the environment.
“As long as you care about water quality and have a love of water,” Reibel said.
For more on the program and to view a map of available sites, visit: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/get-engaged/volunteer-water-monitoring.
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