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Find out about upcoming
environmental events near you at the Community
Calendar
Get involved with your Metro
lakes!
Numerous volunteer activities only require a willingness to help and interest
in protecting your lakes. You can:
VOLUNTEER
TO INVESTIGATE YOUR LOCAL LAKES AND STREAMS!
We don't have enough RUSS units to collect
data from every lake in the Metro area (remember Minnesota has 11,842
lakes)! Volunteers provide vital information about the status of their
waterbody. Collecting water quality information assists state and local
agency staff in expanding the amount of information currently available
about your lake. These volunteer monitoring efforts can be used with other
water quality measurements to assess
long-term water quality trends and to identify potential problems in your
lake, thus aiding community-based water policy and management decisions.
METRO PROGRAMS
Lake
Minnetonka Citizens Monitoring & Education Network: Fifty citizen
volunteers who live on or near Lake Minnetonka are collecting data and
making observations from 40 sites on Lake Minnetonka for the 2000 summer
season. The volunteers will be taking weekly water clarity readings using
a Secchi disk (8-inch, circular, all-white metal plate attached to a calibrated
rope) as well as making observations of wildlife, weather events, aquatic
plants, and other lake activities. The volunteers will monitor Lake Minnetonka
for zebra mussels, an invasive aquatic nuisance species (link to exotics
page) through a program organized by Minnesota Sea Grant with cooperation
from the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District. Monitoring efforts are
also being conducted for the city of Victoria on Lake Virginia, Schutz
Lake, Lake Auburn and a small, unnamed pond.
GET INVOLVED
Dick Osgood, Lake Minnetonka Citizen Monitoring and Education Network
Project Manager, (612) 470-4449
Metropolitan
Council Environmental Services Citizen Assisted Monitoring Program
Citizens and county organizations are measuring the water quality of over
100 Twin Cities Metro lakes in 2000 with the assistance of the Metropolitan
Council Environmental Services. Groups take water clarity measurements
and water samples that the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services
analyze for basic water chemistry parameters.
GET INVOLVED
Randy Anhorn, Metropolitan Council Environmental Services Citizen Assisted
Monitoring Program Coordinator, (612) 291-6449
Hennepin Conservation District River Watch Program
The Hennepin Conservation District (HCD) River Watch Program provides
hands-on environmental education for high school and college students,
promotes river stewardship, and obtains water quality information on streams
in Hennepin County. The River Watch Program connects over 1000 teachers
and students with professionals to monitor the health of twenty-two local
stream sites. The students collect macroinvertebrates (organisms that
live all or part of their life cycle on the river bottom, such as mayflies,
caddisflies, and midges) and assess stream habitat characteristics twice
a year using National River Watch
Network methods, which are based on the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Bioassessment Protocols. In HCD's River Watch Program, there
are currently sample sites in the Watersheds of Elm Creek, Pioneer-Sarah
Creek, Shingle Creek, Bassett Creek, Purgatory Creek, West Mississippi,
Minnehaha Creek, and Nine Mile Creek. However, there are still many sites
that still need volunteers!
GET INVOLVED
Tricia Mangold, Hennepin Conservation District River Watch Coordinator,
(612) 544-8572
STATEWIDE PROGRAMS
Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources Lake Level Minnesota
Volunteers and cooperative organizations are collecting and reporting
the water level of over 900 lakes throughout the state. Knowing the history
of these fluctuations can be of assistance in coping with lake problems
such as flooding, drought-related access, vegetation growth, or lakeshore
erosion.
GET INVOLVED
Department of Natural Resources
Waters Information (651) 296-4800
Coming Soon: Zebra Mussel Watch: Minnesota Sea Grant and the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources are about to launch a statewide effort
involving volunteers in monitoring their inland waters for this invasive
mussel.
Need more information
about volunteer monitoring?
Minnesota Lakes Association-Volunteer
Monitoring Programs
Environmental Protection
Agency: Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
Volunteer Monitoring Groups
On-Line
JOIN
AN ORGANIZATION THAT CARES ABOUT LAKES
MINNESOTA
LAKES ASSOCIATION
NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MANAGEMENT SOCIETY
POLITICAL
ACTION: LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
- Attend and speak at your
local meeting or join a county advisory board or committee that protects
you lakes
City of Minnetonka
Lake Minnetonka
Conservation District
Minnehaha Creek
Watershed District or Find
your Watershed District
Hennepin County
Metropolitan Council
- Contact your elected officials
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Change your daily habits to
protect the water quality of your lake
University
of Minnesota Extension Service Best Management Practices
Department
of Natural Resources Shoreline Management
Minnesota Shoreland Management Resources Guide-coming soon
STUDENT
AND TEACHER ACTION: INVOLVE YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL
Integrate lake monitoring into
your curriculum
Sharing Environmental
Education Knowledge (SEEK)
Minnesota
Lakes Association list of Environmental Education Resources
Environmental Protection Agency's
Kids pages
Directions
to make your own Water Sampling Devices from SAREP
ENJOY
YOUR LAKE
Still here? Go out and do
what you love best, enjoy your lake alone or with family and friends.
SEND US YOUR PICTURES
If you are taking action to monitor and protect your lake in the Metro
area, contact us to get your story and picture
on our Web site.
Coming soon…Clearinghouse
for Minnesota stream volunteer monitoring efforts (Because streams
impact the water quality of your lakes, too.)
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