Monitoring Self-Guided Web Questionnaire

So you think you want to monitor all or part of your watershed?

The following questionnaire is meant to answer your questions about how to start a volunteer monitoring program. You don't have to go through all 17 questions. If you are starting from scratch, you may want to stop after question 1 or maybe go through questions 1 to 4.

If you already know what kind of help you need, scan the questions below until you see the topic you need.

And.... if at any time this survey bumps you out to a dead end where you haven’t had your question answered, contact MassWWP directly (413-545-5531 or 545-5532)

1. Do you belong to a group?

Yes: Good, go to Question 2
No: Read box below:

MassWWP does not provide assistance to unaffiliated individuals. Consider joining an existing organization or starting a new one. Check on our Directory page for a list of monitoring groups in your area. For assistance in locating other environmental organizations, or in starting an association yourself, we suggest contacting the following groups. If your interest is: Rivers and watersheds, contact the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition (978) 534-0379 or the Riverways program (617) 626-1540 Lakes, contact the Congress of Lakes and Ponds: COLAP (800) 845-2769. In western Mass., contact LAPA-West Estuaries, contact the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (508)457-0495 or the Coalition for Buzzards Bay (508) 999-6363. The Coastal Zone Management may also be helpful. Municipalities and environmental consulting firms are other possible sources of information or assistance. You may find the following Word document useful in your research: "Characteristics of a Successful Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program"

Yes: Good, go to Question 3
No: Find out how to form a TAC, where to find committee members, and how to write a TAC job description in this link

3. Do you have historical data?
Past data for your watershed or water body can help you design a better study. Finding out what's been done already also prevents reinventing the wheel.

Yes: Good, go to Question 4
No: Go to Question 5
Don’t know: Where to look for some

4. Do you have any background in limnology or river ecology?
It helps to have some basic knowledge of how a lake or river works in order to decide what parameters to monitor, and to interpret the data.

Yes: Good, go to Question 5
No (or to refresh your memory): For lakes, see Lakes' Physical Environment, Lake Chemistry, and the Lake Book (a pdf file that may take a long time to download) and for rivers, see our River Ecology page

5. Has your group written a study design (or QAPP)?
A study design or a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) are documents you write to develop and describe your monitoring program. We strongly advise groups to spend some time on this step in order to avoid future frustration and waste of effort and money.

Yes: Good, go to Question 6
No: Check out our Study Design page or our QAPP page. Also check our Calendar to see if training is available soon on this topic

6. Has your group conducted a shoreline/watershed survey?
A visual survey of the surrounding land is often a good first step for a monitoring program. This helps you learn what features exist, good and bad, that affect your water body. This kind of survey helps in choosing sampling sites--and also in the data interpretation step.

Yes: Good, go to Question 7
No: Read our Watershed Survey Manual

7. Are you concerned about a specific (acute?) problem?

Yes: Pick one:

• Fish kill. May want to test for Dissolved Oxygen (Lakes Rivers/Estuaries), pH, water temperature (Lakes Rivers/Estuaries)
• Noxious weeds
• Algae bloom. May want to test for Total Phosphorus, Chlorophyll, Water Transparency
• Closed beach/bacteria. May want to test for Water Transparency and Bacteria
• Suspect sewage contamination. May want to test for Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Bacteria, Total Phosphorus, or Optical Brighteners
• Sedimentation: May want to measure sediment depth, Turbidity or Total Suspended Solids in tributaries
• Stormwater problem: go to On-site Non-point Source Pollution (NPS) Evaluation, Shoreline/Watershed Survey, Turbidity or Total Suspended Solids, Bacteria, Total Phosphorus
• Other: Consult you Technical Advisory Committee or MassWWP

No: Want to assess current health. Go to generic survey (need to write?)
Already know know what parameters you'll survey: Go to Question 8

8. Now you have focused your study and have picked your parameters. Do you need training?

Yes: MassWWP maintains a Calendar of training opportunities offered by MassWWP and other organizations. These events range from workshops on lake sampling to full courses and conferences.
No: Go to Question 9

9. Do you need a lab?
If you plan to monitor parameters that require laboratory analysis, you may be able to do some of these yourself (see training in Question 8), or you may wish to contract the services of a qualified laboratory.

Yes: A list of options can be found on our Lab page. If you plan to perform your own analyses, our Equipment List provides some information on sources and prices.
No: Go to Question 10

10. Do you need equipment?
Whether for field sampling or lab analyses, you will need some specialized equipment.

Yes: MassWWP maintains a List of sources and prices for equipment you may need. To borrow equipment, check out what MassWWP has available for loan
No: Go to Question 11

11. Do you need volunteers?
Unless your program is very small and simple, you will need to recruit help to collect samples, analyze them, or deal with data and communications.

Yes: Read box below:

How to recruit volunteers: Put a notice in your local newspapers, your own newsletter, other environmental organizations' newsletters, and on your local access television station's News and Events. Put the same notice on your web site if you have one Put a listing in your local Volunteer Registry Call a public meeting to introduce your program and advertise your needs there Attend other organizations' meetings and make a public announcement Put up notices in your library and store fronts Additional reading: Develop a volunteer job description Read why people volunteer

No: Go to Question 12

12. Do you need help with data management?
Even though this step occurs once the program has started, it's a good idea to plan it ahead of time. You'll want to think about paperwork (forms, labels), data entry and checking, and how to summarize the numbers so they are easy to interpret

Yes: Check our Calendar to see if there are training opportunities coming up, or read our Data Management Manual
No: Go to Question 13 (pdf file)

13. Do you need help with data interpretation?

Yes: Ask your Technical Advisory Committee for help, check our Calendar to see if there are training opportunities coming up, or read our Data Interpretation Manual (pdf file)
No: Go to Question 14

14. Do you need help with data presentation?

Yes: Check our Data Presentation page
No: Go to Question 15

15. Do you need help turning your data into watershed protection programs?

Yes: Some ideas are to get help from COLAP, Riverways, Massachusetts Watershed Coalition, develop presentations for local boards, contact your State Legislators. Your regional planning agency may also be able to help you follow up on your study with grants for on-the-ground projects.
No: Go to Question 16

16. Do you need help evaluating your program?

Yes: Read box below:

Program Evaluation Ideally at the end of each monitoring season, the program coordinator pulls together the Technical Advisory Committee or another group to evaluate the program: What went well, what went wrong, should anything be modified to improve the program or redirect it in a more appropriate track? We are not talking about data quality control here, but rather about the goals of the program and whether they are being met. Was the study realistic, should it be narrowed or expanded? Were enough resources allocated to the program? Was the timing or timeline appropriate? Is the study completed and can it be terminated? Was the focus adequate or should the program revised? In what ways? You are trying here to ensure that your group is making good use of its resources and running a credible program that is meeting your goals. In most cases, you will need to tweak a few aspects of the program and continue the monitoring in the future.

No: Go to Question 17

17: Do you have further questions?
Contact MassWWP 413-545-5531 or 545-5532.