Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Pam Skon, (651) 296-8544 Laurie Sovell, (651) 296-7187 Toll-free, TTY: (800) 657-3864 St. Paul, Minn. -- Do you enjoy the outdoors? Live on or near a river or stream? If so, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) Citizen Stream-Monitoring Program (CSMP) is looking for you. The MPCA needs volunteers to monitor the following area streams [editors see note above] once a week during the spring and summer months. These are streams that were monitored in the past but no longer have volunteers assigned. Monitoring data gathered by volunteers yields valuable information about the current health of Minnesota's water bodies and the agency would like to continue compiling trend data on these streams. Monitoring is a simple and relatively quick process, completed weekly at a designated spot on the stream. At the site, volunteers make note of the appearance, recreational suitability of the water and weather conditions. Then they measure the clarity of the water with a transparency tube. The whole process at the site takes about 15 minutes. Volunteers also track daily rainfall at their homes using a rain gauge. A transparency tube is a two-foot, clear plastic tube with a stopper and release valve on one end. On the inside of the stopper is a black and white symbol. To measure clarity, the tube is filled with water collected from the stream or river. While looking down into the tube, the user releases water through the valve until the black and white symbol is visible. The depth of the water when the symbol becomes visible is the transparency measurement. The CSMP currently has 348 volunteers monitoring 517 sites. With more than 92,000 miles of streams in Minnesota, the agency needs volunteers to help monitor all across the state. CSMP volunteers help protect their favorite streams and contribute greatly to the MPCA's understanding of overall water quality in Minnesota. If you would like to become a volunteer monitor on these or any other streams, call the MPCA at (651) 296-8544 or toll-free at (800) 657-3864. More information about the CSMP is also available on the MPCA Web site at/water/csmp.html. Specific streams that need volunteer monitors: County - Stream Name and location
Aitkin - Seastade Creek @ MN-18, 2 miles E of Wealthwood
Benton - Sucker Creek @ Mayhew Lake Road E of Sartell
Blue Earth - Glenwood Ravine Creek @ Pohl Road In Mankato
Blue Earth - Tributary to the Le Sueur River at Twp Hwy 332
Brown - Cottonwood River @ CR13 Near New Ulm
Cass - Pine River @ Paul Bunyan Trail 0.7 mi SE of Pine River
Crow Wing - Dagget Brook @ Eagle Lake Rd S (first crossing after dam)
Crow Wing - Unnamed tributary to Stark Lake @ Co Hwy 36
Dakota - Cannon River @ Alta Ave Or Highway 56 near Randolph
Dakota - Chub Creek, N Branch @ CR 51 Near Castle Rock
Dakota - Mud Creek @ Holyoke Ave Near Northfield
Dakota - Vermillion River @ CSAH 85 Near Vermillion
Dodge - Dodge Center Creek, Co Hwy 7 (195th Ave) near Dodge Center
Dodge - Lower Branch Middle Fork Zumbro River @ 605th St.
Douglas - Spruce Creek @ Willow Rd NE E of Miltona
Fillmore - Etna Ck @ CSAH 14 near Etna
Fillmore - So. Branch Root River @ CSAH 12
Goodhue - Hay Creek @ Pioneer Road, Red Wing
Hennepin - Mississippi River at Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
Itasca - Morrison Creek @ Walker Road NW of Hill City
Kandiyohi - Middle Fork Crow River @ Lake Calhoun 160th St/CR 138
Kandiyohi - Middle Fork Crow River @ Nest Lake 56th/66th St near New London
Koochiching - Rainy River @ Intersection of 3rd St and 12th Ave near Forestland School
Le Sueur - Forest Prairie Creek @ Co Hwy 28 near Le Sueur
Le Sueur - Le Sueur Creek @ Co Hwy 26 near Le Sueur
Le Sueur - Waterville Creek near Reed St (Twp Rd 35)
Martin - Dutch Creek, CSAH 39 near Fairmont
Morrison - Elk River @ 180th St, 3 miles N of Little Falls
Mower - Cedar River @ Co Hwy 4, S of Austin
Mower - Little Iowa River @ CSAH 11
Mower - Upper Iowa River @ 755th Ave
Mower - Upper Iowa River at CSAH 14 in LeRoy
Olmsted - Bear Creek @ MN-14 in Rochester
Olmsted - So. Fork Zumbro River @ 75th St NW in Rochester
Pine - Kettle River off Old Gov't Rd @ Deer Creek Confluence N of Hinckley
Pine - Mission Creek @ CSAH 11, 2 miles NW of Pine City
Pine - Mission Creek @ CSAH 61 near Beroun
Pine - No. Fork Grindstone River @ Co Hwy 27
Pine - Snake River @ Sherwood St W or at Public Access near Pine City
Scott - Porter Creek @ Xanadu Ave
Scott - Sand Creek @ 270th St near New Prague
St Louis - Miller Creek @ Trinity Road in Enger Park
St Louis - Rocky Run Creek @ St Louis River Road E
Stearns - Kinzer Creek @ Co Road 49 near Cold Springs
Stearns - Watab River @ Co Road 2 near St Joseph
Steele - Straight River @ CSAH 31 SW of Owatonna
Steele - Straight River @ CSAH 9 N of Owatonna
Wabasha - Zumbro River @ Co Hwy 6 in Hammond
Waseca - Waterville Creek @ 410th St N of Waseca