Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program

Did you know you can join a Stream Team and become a trained Volunteer Water Quality Monitor? Stream Team Volunteer Water Quality Monitors are trained citizen scientists who monitor stream health in Missouri. Volunteers adopt watersheds of all shapes and sizes. Some choose to monitor a stream in a small watershed near their home. Other times they choose the watershed of a larger river where they enjoy fishing and canoeing, such as the Meramec River. Chances are, wherever you live in Missouri, there will be a Volunteer Water Quality Monitor near you.

Because everything that is done on the land affects the quality of the water in your watershed, we need many trained monitors. Becoming a volunteer monitor is very simple, but requires some time and commitment on your part. Volunteers are expected to share the knowledge they gain with their community, periodically monitor a stream and submit collected data in a timely manner. The program provides each volunteer with training and equipment for monitoring the physical, biological and chemical parameters of Missouri's rivers and streams.

The first stage is to sign up for one of the Level 1 workshops. Workshops are offered statewide. For a current schedule of workshops, please visit the Missouri Stream Team's Calendar of Events webpage. Please note the registration deadline for each workshop. Space is limited for these training classes, so register early!

The volunteer program is flexible, offering different levels of involvement and commitment that build on each other. Water Quality Monitoring is the only Stream Team activity that requires training. There are multiple levels of training available to volunteers:

• Level 1 - Hybrid of online education videos and field training. Monitors learn about watersheds, how to select a monitoring site, measure stream flow, collect biological data, measure water chemistry parameters and take a visual survey of their sites. No previous training or education required.
• Level 2 - This is a quality assurance/ quality control (QA/QC) training where monitors will strengthen monitoring techniques and verify equipment. Level 1 training is a prerequisite.
• Level 3 - This is a one-on-one audit at a monitor's stream site. Level 2 training is a prerequisite.

Level 2 and 3 monitors are required to recertify once every three years to maintain quality assurance and confidence in data submitted. Monitors may re-certify by completing a Level 2 or Validation training. The Validation training is a shorter, condensed version of the Level 2 training.

To learn more about each VWQM level, visit the Missouri Stream Team's Water Quality Volunteer webpage. For questions regarding the workshops, please email streamteam@dnr.mo.gov.

The VWQM Program offers opportunities for advanced monitoring projects called Cooperative Stream Investigations (CSI). 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.

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. CSI volunteers receive additional training to meet department protocols, including department sampling techniques, safety precautions, proper transportation procedures and chain of custody procedures. This training allows the Stream Team Program to gain additional water quality information through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved methods analyzed at professional laboratories. Volunteer data collected in this manner will be of a high and documented quality, comparable to agency data. This data 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.

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 CSI, please email streamteam@dnr.mo.gov.

Learning how to collect and submit high quality data for your stream monitoring sites is a process, but taking the time to improve your data makes it more useful to yourself, state agencies and others who use the data. You can use the VWQM Data Reminders to evaluate the quality of your own data and improve your data submissions before you submit them to the VWQM Program. Feel free to reach out to VWQM staff if you have questions about any of the data forms, or if you would like help with interpreting your data.

Additional Resources

• Channels Newsletter - Stream Team
• Start a Stream Team - MDC
• Sand and Gravel Mining - PUB2813
• The Stormwater Issue - PUB0223
• Training Materials and Resources - Stream Team
• Water Data and e-Services