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Volunteer

Bow of canoe, lake, and forest

Water Quality Monitoring

Have you ever thought about monitoring the stream or lake near your home or cabin? If so, check out the Citizen Water Monitoring Program coordinated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. As a volunteer, you’ll collect valuable information on water clarity that will be used to detect declines or improvements in water quality.

If you’d like to monitor water quality, but don’t live on a lake or stream, you can use the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Site Finder to locate high priority sites that are in need of a volunteer.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Lake monitoring

If you’re planning a trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness during the summer, we have a great opportunity for you to monitor water quality in lakes while you’re there. Pick up a packet from our office before you head out (due to covid-19, our office remains closed to the public, so please contact us ahead of time if you’d like to pick up a packet).

The packet contains:

  • small data sheets for you to fill out while you’re on the lake
  • a light-weight secchi disk to measure the transparency of the water
  • information about aquatic invasive species

When you’re back from your trip, just return the packet with your filled-out data cards to our office. We will pass along your data to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where it will be entered into the state-wide water quality data set. Contact Derrick Passe for more information.