Citizen Science in Minnesota Waters: Lessons Learned from 17 Years in the Trenches

Minnesota is water rich: 12,000 lakes, 69,000 miles of rivers, and 10 million acres of wetlands. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) works to protect and improve Minnesota’s environment and enhance human health. As... [ view full abstract ]

Minnesota is water rich: 12,000 lakes, 69,000 miles of rivers, and 10 million acres of wetlands. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) works to protect and improve Minnesota’s environment and enhance human health. As part of its mission, the MPCA is mandated to monitor, assess, protect, and restore these critically important water resources. The MPCA employs a watershed approach to carry out this work, concentrating its monitoring and assessment in specific watersheds so that each of the state’s 81 major watersheds is the focus of intensive monitoring once over a 10-year cycle. The abundance of water bodies in the state does lead to spatial and temporal gaps in data collection. In response, the Citizen Stream Monitoring Program (CSMP) was launched in 1998 as a collaborative partnership between MPCA staff and Minnesota citizens. The program engages residents in annual statewide stream data collection initiatives that promote an increased understanding of watershed dynamics. We will share the history of the CSMP, from its early beginnings with a few dozen participants and monitoring sites, to its current roster of over 300 volunteers monitoring at nearly 500 locations statewide. We will chronicle the program’s evolution, touching on early recruitment techniques, the incorporation of volunteer data in the state water quality assessment process, and changes to program monitoring equipment to improve data quality and efficiency. We will explore barriers to administering a statewide citizen science program, and retaining participants with whom interaction is limited. We’ll also touch on technical limitations the program has encountered over the years, related to data management and reporting. The future holds a challenge, and bright promise, to leverage the dedication and commitment of Minnesota’s citizen water monitoring community toward productive efforts to restore and protect the state’s natural water riches.