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A small creek in Schroeder has shrugged off its snowy, icy tomb and water is running freely. Spring can’t be too far behind. Photo courtesy of Gregg Westigard
As spring arrives in Minnesota, it’s time for the state to kick off its popular program that relies on Minnesota residents to help monitor its 12,000 plus lakes and 92,000 plus miles of streams. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is now recruiting volunteers to measure water clarity in numerous lakes and streams in Cook County – including several high-priority sites – and then report back to the agency. This is the perfect opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts and for those interested in helping protect our state’s natural resources!
Through the Volunteer Water Monitoring Program, volunteers do a simple water clarity test in a body of water twice a month during the summer. Lake monitors boat or paddle to a designated spot in the lake to check the clarity, while stream monitors record data from the streambank or a bridge over it. We provide all the equipment and training, so no experience is needed.
The MPCA uses the data to help determine whether lakes and streams are meeting water quality standards designed to protect aquatic life and recreational activities like fishing and swimming. In some cases, the information gathered by volunteers is the only monitoring done on a particular lake or stream.
Program volunteers come from all walks of life; from retirees and families to teachers with their classrooms and entire community groups, anyone can be a volunteer:
· Beth LaVigne, a longtime volunteer stream monitor in Duluth, provides important data about Tischer Creek. She also incorporates her monitoring work into her classroom as a professor of education.
· Joan Redig’s interest in conservation is reflected in her rural Houston County property. Now she monitors Paradise Valley Stream for the Volunteer Water Monitoring program.
· Volunteer water monitoring runs deep for the Berg family in Becker County; they’ve been involved for more than three decades.
We’d like to offer you an interview with a program expert who can discuss the importance of our volunteers’ work in Cook County to help protect water quality and how anyone can get involved. We also may be able to connect you with an existing volunteer in the area to learn more about their experiences in the program and/or provide you with volunteer quotes, photos, stories, etc.
If you are interested in becoming a water monitor in Cook County, please contact Lauren Lewandowski, Communications Specialist, MPCA at (651) 757-2756 or email her at lauren.lewandowski@state. mn.us.
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