Citizen volunteer monitoring is important because it can provide information on places where no one else is looking. It also helps to identify and solve problems locally, raises awareness, and creates an informed constituency.

Today’s column focuses on citizen engagement when it comes to working, playing and enjoying our waterbodies whether in a river or lake or wetland. This includes becoming a citizen volunteer monitor, how lakes are monitored and enjoying yourself at the River, Culture & History Weekend.

Water: Citizen monitoring — An introduction
Healthy waters are vital to the environment, economic and community infrastructure in Minnesota. With only 14 percent of streams and 18 percent of lakes assessed for meeting water quality standards, Minnesota has a critical need for state and local attention to assessment. State agencies simply don’t have the staff and resources to monitor all of Minnesota’s water bodies.

Citizen monitoring is an important, cost-effective contribution to the state’s base of information. These monitors are crucial not only because they start to fill gaps, but more importantly, they are front-line participants who monitor the streams and lakes they care about and take ownership in, and contribute to, water and related land-use decisions.

Did you know: Secchi disk
Monitoring of our lakes goes all the way back to 1865 and Fr. Pietro Angelo Secchi, an astrophysicist and scientific adviser to the pope. He developed a simple and yet effective monitoring tool to measure transparency (water clarity) in the Mediterranean Sea. Secchi had been asked by Commander Cialdi and head of the Papal Navy to measure transparency of the coastal waters.

Today, the Secchi disk is being used all over Minnesota to help assess and watch over the thousands of lakes no matter the size.

For more information on Secchi disks, log on to http://dipin.kent.edu/secchi.htm.

Water science: Secchi disk readings
Secchi disk reading data are used by Minnesotans who want to keep track of water clarity changes over time. The data is also used by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to help assess lakes across the state. The MPCA’s Citizen Lake Monitoring Program is the longest running volunteer lake monitoring program in the nation.

According to the CLMP, first the Secchi disk indicates the amount of light penetration into a lake; second, it provides an indirect measure of the amount of suspended material in the water. In many cases it is an indication of the amount of algae in the water. Long-term Secchi disk monitoring by citizen monitors help detect signs of degradation to the lake.

Generally, the sooner water quality problems are detected, the easier and less expensive it is to restore the lake to a previous state.

For more information, log on to www.pca.state.mn.us/water/clmp.html.

What you can do: Why should I monitor?
People choose to become a volunteer monitor for different reasons. This could include finding your favorite swimming spot closed because of high fecal coliform bacteria readings. Or maybe each time you go for a pontoon ride on the lake your prop gets tangled up in excessive amounts of green algae. Maybe it’s as simple as wanting to keep track of water clarity in a lake or river. The reason for monitoring may cover one or more of the following:
• To build an awareness about the water body — lake, river or wetland,
• To educate yourself, the community, local government staff, a lake association, etc.,
• To establish a baseline of conditions for the water body. (How healthy or polluted is it?),
• To investigate known or suspected areas where water quality problems may already exist,
• To evaluate changes being made to the water body and landscape — this can be both positive and negative.

The natural resource: Rivers and monitoring
In a state with more than 11,000 lakes of 10 acres or more, it is easy to overlook the amazing selection of 92,000 miles of rivers found in Minnesota.

First, there is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. This great American stream flows through the large urban area of Minneapolis and St. Paul on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, three other major rivers — the Minnesota, St. Croix and the Red — create their own impact on the landscape and also our identity. All of these rivers and many others come with their own water quality issues and citizen monitoring efforts.

Community event: River, Culture & History Weekend
Clean Up the River Environment is sponsoring the annual River, Culture & History Weekend on May 16 by offering a number of guided paddling trips. All the paddling trips will take place on rivers in the Upper Minnesota River Watershed including the Pomme de Terre River, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle and Minnesota rivers.

After the paddles you are invited to gather at Watson Lion’s Park on the Chippewa River near Watson for food, music and storytelling. Camping is free at the park. For more information, log on to http://sites.google.com/a/cureriver.org/river-history-weekend.

Organizaton profile: Minnesota Waters
Minnesota Waters is a statewide nonprofit organization with the mission to promote responsible stewardship of our water resources by engaging citizens, local and state policymakers and other partners in the protection and restoration of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.

They have made the expansion of citizen monitoring a cornerstone of their programming. Minnesota Waters’ citizen monitoring program goal is a strong and vital community-based constituency empowered to measure the health of our lakes and rivers and to implement a purposeful data to information to action pathway. They believe that monitoring shouldn’t just stop with collecting data, but can be turned into information that can be used to bring some decisions or action.

For more information, log on to www.minnesotawaters.org.

Recreational opportunity: Paddling the Upper Minnesota River watershed
CURE offers a Prairie River Paddler patch for paddling six rivers in the Upper Minnesota River Watershed — Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Pomme de Terre, Yellow Medicine, Hawk Creek and the Minnesota.

CURE outlines the six different rivers for difficulty.
• Pomme de Terre River — prepare to capsize — can be moderately easy or difficult depending on the presence of downed trees (strainers). There are a number of riffles that can be Class 1 or 2 rapids depending on the water level.
• Minnesota River — easy for beginners and families with young children.
• Chippewa River — easy for beginners and families with young children.
• Lac qui Parle River — moderate — you can do this if you really want to, even if you have never canoed before.
• Yellow Medicine River — challenging — expect to capsize. It is a true thrill and a trip you will never forget.
• Hawk Creek — challenging — expect to capsize, hit rocks and admire the steep bluffs.

For more information, log on to www.cureriver.org.