Water Action Volunteers’ Water Action Volunteers’ Citizen Stream Monitoring Citizen Stream Monitoring

ProgramProgram

Kris Stepenuck - UW EX/WI DNR Statewide WAV Coordinator

Mike Miller - WI DNR Baseline Stream Monitoring Coordinator

Presentation Overview

1) Status of Water Action Volunteers’ (WAV) Program

2) New and Future WAV Activities

3) WI Baseline Stream Monitoring & Opportunities for Volunteer Monitors

• Established in 1996

• Citizens and school groups

• 35 local programs

• Over 250 adults and 1000 students

Who’s participating in WAV?

Local Coordination • DNR/UWEX

• Counties / Municipalities

• Non-profit Organizations

• Nature Centers

• Teachers

• Interest Groups (e.g., T.U., Sierra Club)

Who’s Coordinating WAV?

• Helps initiate local program• Provides written methods• Helps local groups obtain

equipment (often through a W.E.R.C.)

• Sponsors “Train the Trainer” events

• Helps to plan and carry out local training events

What Assistance Does WAV Provide?

• Provides statewide online database

• Provides a website with stream monitoring information and resources

• Provides a list server for networking

• Analyzes data and prepares summaries

WAV Assistance for Local Groups

What Types of Data Collected:

Data Method Frequency

Temperature Thermometer Monthly

Water clarity Turbidity tube Monthly

Dissolved oxygen Hach Chemistry kit Monthly

Biotic Index(macroinvertebrates)

D-net sampling Twice a year (spring/fall)

Habitat Site assessment Once a year

Stream flow Orange float method Monthly

Where WAVs Are Monitoring

Since 1996:•135 streams and rivers monitored

•Over 250 stream sites assessed

•Data from over 100 stream sites were submitted via the web in 2003

Where to Obtain EquipmentWatershed Education

Resource Centers (W.E.R.C.)

• 19 across the state (see WAV website)

• Have a variety of monitoring equipment and resources

• Library-style loaning

Volunteer Monitoring Can Be a Tiered Approach

(Why WAVS are monitoring):

Education and Advocacy

Problem Screening

RigorousAssessments

Dat

a Q

ual it

y

2) New and Future WAV Program Additions

• Crayfish surveys (Summer 2004)

• Macroinvertebrate wildcards (Summer 2004)

• Family-level macroinvertebrate identification key (Fall 2004)

• E. coli monitoring (Spring 2005- pilot)

• Understanding River Data booklet (Summer 2005)

3) WI Baseline Stream MonitoringOpportunities for Volunteer Assistance

Goals:

• Comprehensive statewide assessment

• Establish status and trends

• High quality, web-accessible information for science-based resource management

WI has 22,613 perennial streams

Baseline Stream Monitoring Effort

Since 1999:1300 streams have been surveyed

Data collected•Fish Community•Stream Habitat•Macroinvertebrates•Limited Water Chemistry

Gaps in Stream Data

Small (lower-order) streams are most numerous but least sampled in WI

1st order

2nd order

3rd order

4th order

5th orgreater

14,744

(66%)!

5,313(23%)

1,868(8%)

540(2%)

148 (1%)

Number of Perennial Streams in Wisconsin by Stream Size (order).

Geographic gaps in stream data

Stream Monitoring Sites

Bridging the Stream Data Gap• Ensure volunteers, academics and agencies

collect quality data using comparable methods

• Collect meaningful and relevant data

• Volunteers may be able to help fill geographic and small stream data gaps

Conclusions• Volunteers can help bridge stream data gaps.

• Quality volunteer data will require increased capacity to: train/certify citizen scientists, effectively workplan, process field samples, and efficiently capture and analyze data.

• Long-term cost savings can be realized by using volunteer help.

• Along with education and resource advocacy, improved stream assessment and management can result from improved volunteer efforts.