2010 Citizen Monitoring

On June 5, 2010, the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance (FWWA), along with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community (SMC) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) sponsered a Citizen Water Monitoring Kick-off Event at Captain's Cove on Island Lake.  This event provided opportunities for interested residents to mingle with their neighbors, to learn about water quality monitoring and to discuss other fun projects such as Loon Watch, Shoreline Habitat Restoration and Rain Barrels.

This event provided training on how to monitor, collect and record water quality data for use by peers and professionals.  Jay Schiefelbein of the WDNR, presented information on the use of the Secchi Disc for monitoring water quality.  JaNelle Merry of the FWWA provided additional information on monitoring for water quality,  Secchi Disc equipment for participants, and information on the Loon Watch and Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project sponsored by the FWWA.  Stockbridge-Munsee Hydrologist and FWWA Board Member, Luck Hennigan, provided hands on training in the boat on Island Lake.

Ten people attended the event, representing four different area lakes:  Big Lake, Beaulieu Lake, Koonz Lake and Mission Lake.

Thanks to the participation of the residents, all four lakes will now have active water quality monitoring.  The participants will gather information using the Secchi Disc out of the lake every 7-14 days, record their observations on a data sheet and submit the data sheet to FWWA to enter or enter in the data on the WDNR Citizen Water Monitoring network website themselves.  The information that is collected and submitted to the website is available for anyone to see.

Three residents expresses interest in participating in the Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project!  Stay tuned for more information on that project.

Please contact JaNelle Merry with any questions you may have regarding the project.

JaNelle Merry
FWWA Event Facilitator
920-604-1238, jpaulette1@juno.com

What a great start to another great year on the lakes!