What Is Watershed Monitoring?
     Measuring or observing watershed features to

» assess ecosystem health and human use
» detect early warnings of change
» tell us whether we've achieved our management goals
» provide insight into the causes of problems

What Is Volunteer Monitoring?
» Unpaid people who willingly monitor various environments.
» People who watch over the health of their watersheds because they care.

The Continuum of Volunteer Monitoring
The Volunteer Monitoring "System"
Volunteer Monitoring Services
» Organizational
» Technical
» Networking

Volunteer Monitoring Service Delivery Methods
» Information
» Documentation
» Training
» Consultation
» Conferences
» Funding

A Brief History of Volunteer Monitoring
» 1890 National Weather Service - 11,500 volunteers, 500 stations, 100 years
» 1900 National Audubon Society - Christmas Bird Count
» 1954 National Marine Fisheries Service - game fish tagging
» 1969 Izaak Walton League - SOS
» 1985 RI and Chesapeake Bay - estuary monitoring
» 1988 1st National Volunteer Monitoring Conference - 85 attend
»1989 1st Issue of The Volunteer Monitor - 8 pages, 3000 copie
» 1994
517 Programs in 45 states
median size: 25 volunteers
median budget $4K
The Volunteer Monitor: 24 pages, 20,000 copies

» 1997 . . .
A Brief History of Volunteer Monitoring
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Quality Assurance
» Data use varies widely
» Data quality goals vary widely
» Quality assurance varies widely
» 44% of programs have a QA Plan
27% state-approved
18% EPA-approved

Volunteer Monitoring Makes A Difference
» Identifies & solves problems locally
» Involves people in real science
» Raises awareness
» Provides info on places where no one else is looking
» Creates an informed constituency

Volunteer Monitoring Issues
» How good is the info?
» Getting a handle on the whole watershed
» Need, rich, easy indicators
» The story is not always clear
» Keeping people motivated
» Good ecological monitoring is long-term
» Reference conditions

Lessons Learned
» Ordinary people can collect high quality information
» Rivers and lakes are more than water between banks
» Knowing what we want to achieve is critical
» "Cookie cutter" programs are limited
» Good ecological monitoring requires healthy organizations

Successful Volunteer Monitoring Programs . . .
» Are well-organized
Clear purpose
Partnerships
Good relations with decision-makers
Strong Leadership
Clear staff, board, and volunteer roles

Successful Volunteer Monitoring Programs . . .
» Do good science
Clear monitoring goals and questions
Written study design
Clear documentation of instructions for all monitoring activities
Monitoring scope and complexity is appropriate to their capabilities
QA appropriate to data use

Successful Volunteer Monitoring Programs . . .
» Report and use their results
Data are turned into a story
Results and the story are reviewed by data users and resource people
Results are reported in various ways tailored to the audience
Information is turned into action
Monitoring is used to assess progress

To contact River Watch Network [an error occurred while processing this directive]