Become a Lake Monitoring Volunteer!
HRWC has helped run MiCorps, the State’s volunteer water monitoring quality program, since 2004. Thanks to this program, dozens of other organizations and thousands of individuals across Michigan regularly monitor the water quality of their lakes and rivers.
This year, thanks to the generosity of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, residents in Oakland County are able to join MiCorps’ lake monitoring program for free. About 1/3 of Oakland County falls within the Huron River Watershed, which means that HRWC is particularly excited about this opportunity as a great way to get lots of new people involved in lake monitoring and collecting water quality data on the lakes in our watershed.
Volunteers in Oakland County that join Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program (CLMP) for the 2018 season are given a $185 credit to enroll a lake into the program. (A lake is enrolled into the program, rather than a person. Usually one or two people, sometimes with a few others supporting them from time to time, conduct the monitoring on a single lake).
For first time lakes, this covers enrollment into the Secchi Disk Transparency, Spring and Summer Phosphorus, and the Exotic Aquatic Plant Watch parameters. (Along with a free Secchi Disk!) For Oakland County lakes who have been in the CLMP in the past, the $185 credit can be applied to any of the registration or equipment costs.
There are two informational sessions that any Oakland resident is welcome to attend, as well as a training held in Oakland County (that will only cover the introductory parameters listed above). See the image below for the dates, times, and locations!
Any questions at all? Email Paul Steen, MiCorps program manager and HRWC aquatic ecologist, psteen@hrwc.org.
