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Volunteer Stream Monitoring Partnership (VSMP)

You too can be a part of this growing effort to protect local streams.

For more information contact: VSMP website

Mary Gullickson

Technical Coordinator

612-625-6781

gull9021@umn.edu

Kevin Proescholdt

Outreach Coordinator

612-624-7460

kevinp@umn.edu

Mission Statement:

The Volunteer Stream Monitoring Partnership supports monitoring in the Twin Cities Metro Area, ensures quality data, builds a network that connects volunteers with decision makers, and creates long-term commitments for stream and watershed protection.

What is Volunteer Monitoring?

Citizens around the country have been mobilizing to monitor the quality of streams and rivers in their local areas. The Volunteer Stream Monitoring Partnership began in 2001 and has responsibilities for metro-wide coordination and communication. Serving as watchdogs to protect community resources, volunteers are currently monitoring over 50 sites in the Twin Cities Metro Area. You can be a part of this too!

Volunteer stream monitoring takes many forms, including measuring water chemistry, physical habitat, and biological life.

Biological Monitoring

Because organisms have different abilities to withstand pollution, many volunteers choose to examine the biological communities as a measure of stream health. Benthic macroinvertebrates (organisms that are visible to the naked eye, and live in the stream bottom) are easy to collect, and can be good indicators of pollution in a stream. To monitor benthic macroinvertebrates, volunteers visit a stream site in the spring and fall. Biological monitoring involves collecting and identifying macroinvertebrates and conducting a physical habitat assessment. After collection, macroinvertebrates are preserved in alcohol and brought indoors to be sorted and identified to the Family level using a taxonomic key and a microscope.

The presence and abundance of certain macroinvertebrates allow us to draw conclusions about water quality. If a site is monitored on a regular basis, the data can illustrate how the stream is changing over time. This is valuable information for policy makers, land use planners, and community members.

Chemical Monitoring

Chemical monitoring is another option for volunteers. Measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, and nutrients can be used to characterize stream water quality health. Chemical monitoring is often characterized as a "snapshot" in time, whereas biological monitoring measures a more integrated response to water quality impacts.

As of 2001, few volunteers in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are monitoring chemical parameters, but interest is growing and training sessions will be offered in the next few years. Volunteers may use simple water testing kits to analyze water samples in the field; or they may choose to collect water samples for analysis by a certified laboratory.

Get Involved in Monitoring!

Since 1995, volunteer monitoring has been growing in the Twin Cities. Many local programs involve teachers and secondary students to monitor stream health. This work builds toward Minnesota graduation standards.

Those who commit to monitoring should plan to visit their site twice a year, once in the spring, and once in the fall. Field work typically takes one to two hours. Sorting and identifying organisms will require four to six hours in the lab depending on skill level.

Volunteers work directly with county coordinators to identify sampling sites, prioritize monitoring methods, and utilize data locally. There are varying levels of volunteering available for anyone interested.

The Value of Volunteer Monitoring

Stream monitoring provides an opportunity for citizens and students to experience a stream ecosystem firsthand, while providing valuable data that can be used to influence decisions made at the individual, community and state level. In addition to promoting a better understanding of natural resources, stream monitoring offers volunteers valuable technical skills and experience.

Volunteers have discovered problems in some metro streams and brought them to the attention of natural resource professionals and policy makers. In other cases, they have highlighted the need to protect streams that are still healthy ecosystems. Volunteer data are being used to understand the long-term changes that are impacting streams and rivers as a result of growth and development.