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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is seeking volunteers to monitor the state’s more than 12,000 lakes and 92,000 miles of streams for water quality.
These include several high priority sites in Rock County, and the agency is recruiting residents for its popular Volunteer Water Monitoring Program.
The volunteers measure water clarity at various locations along the Rock River and the creeks of Ash, Elk, Mound Champepadan and Sater’s.
“This is a perfect opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts and those interested in helping protect our state’s natural resources,” said Lauren Lewandowski, MPCA communications specialist.
“Through the Volunteer Water Monitoring Program, volunteers do a simple water clarity test in a body of water twice a month during the summer.”
Ron Feucht of Hills monitors The Rez and the Rock River near County Road 1 in southern Rock County. Once a month he samples the Rock River near Edgerton.
Feucht is in his third year of volunteer water monitoring and said he enjoys the weekly outdoor activity.
“I get to stop and look at nature,” he said.
“It is interesting to see Mother Nature do her stuff.”
At both locations, Feucht uses a small white bucket to gather the samples on a weekly basis.
He measures the temperature and completes a clarity test using a Secchi tube.
Sediment is one of the main pollutants in Minnesota rivers and streams. It can harm fish and aquatic insects and degrade aesthetic and recreational qualities.
It can be expensive to treat for drinking water purposes.
Feucht said he’s noticed the differences in water clarity depending on the time of year, most notably in the spring.
He said his weekly clarity tests improve or are clear when vegetation is present along shorelines because it filters the water before it reaches the small streams that feed The Rez or enter the Rock River.
MPCA provided the equipment and trained Feucht to take the water samples. He electronically records his findings with the MPCA on his home computer.
Retirees like Feucht are among many who volunteer as water quality monitors, according to Lewandowski
“Program volunteers come from all walks of life,” she said. “From retirees and families to teachers with their classrooms and entire community groups. Anyone can be a volunteer.”
The MCPA uses the data to help determine whether lakes and streams are meeting water quality standards designed to protect aquatic life and recreational activities like fishing and swimming.
“In some cases, the information gathered by volunteers is the only monitoring done on a particular lake or stream,” Lewandowski said.
Streams are typically monitored from April to October and lakes are done from May to October.
Volunteers can join the program at any point in the year, Lewandowski said.
More information is available at www.mn.gov/volunteerwater or call 1-800-657-3864.