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Strategic Monitoring Plan Design for Volunteer Water Quality Programs

Learn how to design an effective monitoring plan for volunteer water quality programs based on survey results and success stories. Discover the importance of engaging data users, setting clear goals, and overcoming common barriers.

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Strategic Monitoring Plan Design for Volunteer Water Quality Programs

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  1. Designing Your Monitoring PlanForVolunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs National Monitoring Conference – May 2006 Angie Becker Kudelka Minnesota Waters

  2. Citizens protecting and improving our lakes and rivers A confluence of: &

  3. Minnesota – A headwaters state

  4. State of the Waters - Minnesota In Minnesota: Only 8% of the Streams And 14% of the Lakes Have been assessed for meeting water quality standards We don’t know if our waters are safe – to swim, fish, or drink from…

  5. Citizen Monitoring in Minnesota

  6. Why do You Monitor? (out of 44 responses) Impact Local Decision Making 89% 41 Education/Awareness 85% 39

  7. Who uses the Data? (out of 44 responses) Our Organization 83% State Environmental Agencies 78%

  8. Volunteer Citizen Monitoring in MN SURVEY RESULTS - HIGHLIGHTS Data Provider or Data User? They’re both. Monitoring Design Plan? 50% do not have one. Those that do have a plan: sampling methods only, often not reviewed or approved by data users. Top 3 Intended Data Users: - MPCA (state agency) - Local Organizations - Themselves

  9. Volunteer Citizen Monitoring in MN SURVEY RESULTS - HIGHLIGHTS Monitoring Program Barriers: * Recruitment and reliability of volunteers. * Consistent, strong leaders. * Lack of volunteer management. * Unclear goals for monitoring; no monitoring plans. * Not connecting with data user.

  10. Volunteer Citizen Monitoring in MN SURVEY RESULTS - HIGHLIGHTS Data Provider Barriers: * “The data is unmanageable, there is way too data for us to handle.” * “There is no formal documentation that we use.” * “We don’t get any feedback from the data users.” * “Lack of consistency with new volunteers.”

  11. Volunteer Citizen Monitoring in MN SURVEY RESULTS - HIGHLIGHTS Successes: * Partnerships with data users and other providers * Data collection with a definite purpose and use * Help to interpret the data * Data users are local

  12. Why Design a Monitoring Plan?

  13. What is a Monitoring Plan? • The Monitoring Plan is a sequence of strategic choices that focus decisions to meet goals and capabilities of the group. • Prevents waste of time and money on monitoring that is not valuable for your group. • Allows you to select monitoring strategy to address issues important to you and your community. • Helps you make sense of data by preparing you to turn it into useful information. • Minimizes impact of changing personnel

  14. Monitoring Plan Preparing a monitoring plan may be the most important step in organizing your whole monitoring effort.

  15. Steps Designing Your Monitoring Plan

  16. Training Day 1 • Steps 1-4. • Understand state use classifications • Write a monitoring vision, identify issues • Brainstorm data use and data users • Determine assessments

  17. State of the Waters The goal: To find out if it is a Healthy Waterbody If it is healthy = Protect it! If it is not healthy = Restore it!

  18. How Is Healthy Defined?

  19. Training Day 1 • Steps 1-4. • Understand state use classifications • Write a monitoring vision, identify issues • Brainstorm data use and data users • Determine assessments

  20. Increasing Time - Rigor - QA - Expense Monitoring Continuum – Data Uses Purposes Regulatory/ Enforcement Community Awareness Local Decisions State Assessment Formal Education Source: Geoff Dates

  21. Overnight • Retreat/Rustic Conference Center

  22. Training Day 2 • Steps 5-8 • Technical and Methods day • Discuss Parameters, Where, When • QA/QC • How to enter and store data

  23. Training Day 3 • Steps 9-12 • Planning for Data Interpretation • Present/Report – Action! • Logistics (Timeline/Budget) • Evaluation

  24. Our successes 2003 & 2004 – 2 pilot trainings. 13 citizen monitoring groups trained and plans being implemented! 2005 – Revised and refined program 2006 – Worksheets and materials available on-line. Over 100 downloads in the first 3 weeks 6 groups in-depth training; 9 groups short course

  25. Successful Programs Data to Information to Action

  26. Contact Info Angie Becker Kudelka angieb@minnesotawaters.org Citizen Monitoring Research/Evaluation Rpt. www.riversmn.org/resources_citmon.html#MonArtNews Monitoring Plan Materials: www.riversmn.org/monplan/

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