Volunteer-collected data are regularly used in decision-making and conservation efforts. Find a program that excites you and join in.

Monitor water quality in the Boundary Waters

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is the most heavily used wilderness in the country, and visitors can play an important role in monitoring its lakes. If you're planning a trip to the Boundary Waters, contact us! The MPCA provides a monitoring kit, and it can be used on any lake in the BWCA. No prior experience or training is needed. It only takes a few minutes to measure water clarity as you paddle, and it's a great activity for both adults and kids.

Volunteers collect some of the only data available on lakes in the BWCA; the MPCA lacks the resources to access the area for regular monitoring. Volunteer-collected data are also used in the University of Minnesota’s Remote Sensing initiative, which uses satellite imagery to monitor lake clarity in the state.

Contact us at watervolunteers.mpca@state.mn.us, 800-657-3864 and provide the dates of your next trip. You will receive a lake monitoring kit before you leave. When you're back, return the kit in the provided postage-paid envelope.

Lake ice reporting

The formation and break-up of ice are important annual milestones for a lake. Tracking dates of ice-on and ice-off is important to understanding a lake’s seasonal cycles and the effects of climate change.

Volunteers record this information for hundreds of lakes in Minnesota and submit it to the MPCA. If you're already a volunteer water monitor, you can include ice data in your annual reporting. Learn more about ice reporting on the Volunteer resources page.

To sign up, email us at ice.pca@state.mn.us with:

  • your name, address and phone number
  • name of the lake you are reporting on and the county it's in
  • the Lake ID number found in LakeFinder (Minnesota DNR)

The MPCA makes the volunteer-collected ice data available to anyone interested in using and studying it. We also share it with the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

Other volunteer science opportunities

In Minnesota, there are dozens of programs that train and support thousands of volunteer scientists. Volunteer-collected data are regularly used in decision-making and conservation efforts. Find a program that excites you and join in.