Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program

The Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program is one of the most popular activities of the Missouri Stream Team Program.

How to Get Started as a Volunteer Monitor

Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Workshops

There are currently five levels of training available to volunteers: Introductory, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Cooperative Stream Investigations. Monitors begin their training by attending an introductory workshop. Workshops are offered statewide, and the current schedule of workshops can be viewed at the Missouri Stream Team website.

Introductory Workshop

This workshop introduces the basic level of monitoring including site selection, stream discharge and biological monitoring. The primary emphasis is education about watersheds and the importance of biological monitoring in those watersheds. The workshop provides classroom instruction and demonstration at a nearby creek. Introductory workshops are offered in March and April each year.

Volunteers receive instruction in the following:

• How to take a subjective survey of the stream site that will be monitored, including evaluating land use, riparian cover, stream bank and in-stream conditions
• How to calculate stream discharge in cubic feet per second
• How to collect and identify invertebrates that are living in streams. Invertebrates are indicators of pollution. Volunteers learn how to derive a water quality rating from the invertebrate collection

Invertebrate photographs and a training notebook are supplied at the workshop. Once workshop attendees return their site selection and stream discharge data sheets, along with a map of their stream site, they will receive monitoring equipment that includes a kick net, vials, magnifiers and forceps. The workshop is taught in one day.

Level 1 Workshop

The Level 1 Workshop is eight hours of in-classroom instruction that prepares volunteers to go to a nearby stream and investigate six chemical aspects of the water, conduct a visual survey and collect macroinvertebrates. The chemical tests include temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate (nutrients) and transparency. All six parameters can be related to the Clean Water Act laws that protect the water quality of the nation’s rivers and streams. Level 1 workshops are offered in September and October each year.

A review of macroinvertebrate identification and biological monitoring techniques is also included. After completing both an introductory and Level 1 workshop, and once workshop attendees return their visual survey data sheet, they are qualified to receive monitoring equipment, including pH and conductivity meters, a dissolved oxygen kit, nitrate kit and transparency tube.

For more information regarding the Intro and Level 1 Workshop, please email streamteam@dnr.mo.gov.

Level 2 Workshop

Volunteers who have successfully completed the Level 1 workshop and submitted two seasons of all four data types (Stream Discharge, Biological Monitoring, Water Chemistry and Visual Survey) are eligible to attend a Level 2 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Workshop in a laboratory setting. Level 2 workshops are offered in January and February yearly.

After volunteers complete their Level 2 training, they receive a short refresher course every three years to have their equipment checked and maintain quality assurance and confidence in Level 2 and 3 data. These refresher courses, or validation workshops, are offered in July and August each year.

Level 3 Evaluation

Volunteers who have successfully completed the Level 2 Workshop are eligible for Level 3 evaluation. Those volunteers who regularly submit all four data sets may be the most comfortable pursuing a Level 3 audit. Level 3 indicates program personnel have evaluated the volunteer in the field at their monitoring site. To pass a Level 3 audit, the volunteer must successfully demonstrate all of the procedures and techniques learned up to that point, as well as be able to identify all of the invertebrates at their site to Order. This evaluation is scheduled through appointment only. It is strongly recommended volunteers request evaluations during a time of year they regularly sample macroinvertebrates. By doing so, volunteers ensure the highest level of familiarity and confidence identifying the types and seasonally-changing sizes of invertebrates in their streams.

Cooperative Stream Investigations

The VWQM Program offers opportunities for advanced monitoring projects for Level 2 and Level 3 volunteers called Cooperative Stream Investigations. The program's goal is to foster cooperation between the department, watershed management committees and volunteers to perform sampling for special projects. The groups work together to develop a sampling plan suited to the scope of the watershed project, availability of volunteers and the ability of the department to analyze the samples. Representatives of the department and members of the watershed committee select sampling sites and parameters that best fit the goals of the particular investigation. Parameters chosen for monitoring depend on the project and require a 2-3 year commitment.

The CSI level of training allows the Stream Team Program to gain additional water quality information through Environmental Protection Agency-approved methods analyzed at professional laboratories.

Volunteers who have successfully completed Level 2 may be eligible to participate in CSI monitoring. CSI volunteers receive additional training to meet Missouri Department of Natural Resources protocols. Volunteer data collected in this manner will be of a high and documented quality, comparable to agency data and can play an important role in the department’s decision making process relating to total maximum daily load (TMDL) studies, permit evaluations and long-term resource studies.

All CSI volunteers are required to be Level 2 or higher, have consistently submitted credible data and commit to the duration of the special project. Volunteers will be specially trained in department sampling techniques, safety precautions, proper transportation procedures and chain of custody procedures. The department will provide appropriate sampling containers and equipment to volunteers. All samples will be analyzed at a Missouri Department of Natural Resources authorized lab.

For more information regarding Level 2, Level 3 or CSI, please contact Randy Sarver at randy.sarver@dnr.mo.gov.