Regional Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Programs

Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) – Carlisle, PA. ALLARM is a program of Dickinson College, which provides technical assistance to watershed organizations looking to develop and implement water quality monitoring programs.

WV-VA Water Quality Monitoring Program – Charleston, WV. A program of Trout Unlimited implemented in West Virginia in partnership with West Virginia Rivers Coalition. The WV/VA Water Quality Monitoring Program engages citizen scientists as the eyes and ears on the ground to identify and limit the potential impacts from shale gas and natural gas pipeline development on coldwater streams. Organizations and individuals throughout WV and VA participate in the program.

West Virginia Save Our Streams – Charleston, WV. WV Save Our Streams is a program of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The mission of WV SOS is to promote the preservation and restoration of our state’s waters by providing an understanding of their ecological integrity. The program uses a biosurvey approach to stream study, which includes the collection and evaluation of benthic macro-invertebrates and an assessment of the physiochemical conditions. WV SOS trains individuals and organizations throughout West Virginia to participate in the program.

Three Rivers QUEST – Morgantown, WV. Based at WVU, Three Rivers QUEST focuses on three watersheds, the Ohio, the Allegheny and the Monongahela. Volunteers collect data on conductivity, pH and water temperature. Monitoring locations and organizations participating in the program are located throughout South West PA, Eastern OH and Northern WV.

Programs Focused on the Chesapeake Bay

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay River Trends – Richmond, VA. The Alliance’s citizen water quality monitoring program is a regional network of over 50 trained volunteers who perform weekly water quality tests that help track the condition of waterways flowing towards the Chesapeake Bay.

Friends of the Shenandoah River – Winchester, VA. Twice a month, over 80 dedicated volunteers gather approximately 150 water samples from seven counties in the Shenandoah Valley. Each county has a lead monitor who is responsible for training new monitors, coordinating sampling dates and providing updated information from the lab.

Potomac Riverkeeper Network River Watchers Program – Washington, DC. The River Watcher Program helps identify and report pollution events. The program’s training teaches volunteers: what to look out for while they are on the river; which pollution issues are prevalent in the watched watershed; and how to properly report pollution.