Biological Monitoring: Citizen Monitoring

Wetlands

The MPCA has been instrumental in developing wetland sampling techniques and analytical tools for use by citizen volunteers. In 1996 the MPCA, in cooperation with the Minnesota Audubon Council, received a grant from the EPA to develop sampling protocols, analytical tools, and training materials to be used by citizen volunteers for the assessment of wetland health. The pilot project included the recruitment of six teams of citizen volunteers sampling wetlands in Scott County. Team leaders were high school biology teachers and naturalists. Citizen teams were responsible for collecting invertebrate and plant data from 4 wetlands in their city. The following year the program base shifted to Dakota County, where it evolved into what is now known as the Wetland Health Evaluation Program (WHEP).

WHEP has continued to grow and now combines the efforts of volunteers with those of numerous local, state, federal, and non-profit agencies to monitor and improve wetland health. Currently 16 out of the 17 communities involved in WHEP are located in Dakota and Hennepin counties. One team is located near Sauk Rapids as part of the Green Lake Improvement District. As volunteer interest continues, additional teams are added each year.

WHEP has received national recognition from the EPA, has received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award, and has been a Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award finalist. WHEP serves as a model for citizen wetland monitoring around the country. Because of the program’s strong protocol design and training, WHEP has been extremely successful at providing quality data and a unique educational experience for volunteers of all levels. Cities involved with WHEP are using volunteer collected data for water resource and city planning decision-making. In turn, these cities support the costs for team leader stipends, sampling gear, and professional level QA/QC. MPCA staff are responsible for training volunteers in field sampling techniques and laboratory identification of invertebrates and plants.

In 2001, the MPCA received an additional grant to further develop training materials. This has resulted in the creation of excellent wetland invertebrate and plant identification and assessment guides. Both guides are available from the MPCA or through the Dakota County and Hennepin County WHEP programs.

• Citizen Plant Wetland Assessment Guide

Currently, the MPCA is working closely with Dakota and Hennepin Counties with the final development of training materials. Once completed, the electronic and video resources will allow for the expansion and involvement of a much larger volunteer audience in WHEP.

The future of citizen wetland monitoring in Minnesota is bright due in great part to the efforts of MPCA staff, the enthusiasm of the volunteers, the many partners involved and the wonder of wetlands.

To find out more about volunteer wetland monitoring opportunities in your community, visit the following:

• WHEP Web site — check out the wetland plant identification and assessment guide.
• MPCA Volunteer Surface Water Monitoring

Streams

Citizen monitoring is a valuable tool for the MPCA. Currently the MPCA sponsors two citizen volunteer based monitoring programs, the Citizen Lake Monitoring Program and the Citizen Stream Monitoring Program. These programs rely on physical measurements of transparency, or water clarity.

Other volunteer based stream monitoring programs have long been established in Minnesota. Some of them include: The Isaak Walton League- Save Our Streams Program, The Riverwatch Program, and the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program (VSMP). These programs have a strong emphasis on the collection and interpretation of invertebrate community data from streams.

Fish are not collected by volunteer groups, due to the cost and legal implications of effectively collecting game and non-game fish. The MPCA does not sponsor it’s own volunteer-based biological monitoring program however the MPCA supports volunteer stream monitoring programs throughout the state through technical assistance. Biological monitoring staff are available to assist citizen groups by providing training in invertebrate sampling techniques and invertebrate identification. This type of assistance is a secondary responsibility for those involved in technical monitoring, and is available on a limited basis.

The MPCA is currently developing Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) for interpreting data collected by MPCA staff. These IBIs are applied to data collected using MPCA approved protocols for invertebrates identified to the genus level and fish identified to species. The MPCA plans to develop a tool for use by citizen monitors that will aid in the interpretation of regional invertebrate data. The tool will be a regional, citizen level invertebrate IBI. The tool will be developed by sub-sampling existing MPCA data, reflecting the identification capabilities of citizen monitors. The citizen IBI will be based on family level identifications and will be developed by aggregating all generic level IDs (existing MPCA data) to the family level. The citizen level IBI will be developed once a large enough data set is available to allow for a significant state coverage.