Selected Archives of Volunteer Monitoring Listserv Discussions

Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 08:37:42 -0700
From: "Williams, Gene" <Gene.Williams@co.snohomish.wa.us>
Subject: [volmonitor] Motivating Volunteers Faced with Discouragement

We recently received this email message from one of our lake monitoring volunteers prior to the annual training workshop.

My apologies for waiting so long to reply. My wife and I were debating whether we would be able to do the monitoring this year.

Last year it seemed to be a hit and miss proposition. It is hard to be enthusiastic when it seems to bear so little fruit.

It isn’t difficult to see the waters are in peril. Very few insects in the air, few are fishing and I have seen no fish landed, the beaver are gone, the Osprey don’t visit often, the first mallard hatch has taken cover or died off already, the drakes are bach’ing it on the dock so the ladies must be nesting again, the lily pads below the surface are covered with algae or debris like when they die off in the fall, there are no honey bees and few midges this spring…

What can we do about it? Is it feasible to sample for chemical pollutants washing in from the watershed? Can we get the county to quit killing mosquitoes and every other insect?

It’s easy to feel his discouragement, and to sympathize with his sense of helplessness.

Unfortunately, the specific concerns he expresses are far beyond our program’s resources to address or monitor. And, he doesn’t even mention the water quality problems we do monitor in his lake, probably because they require restoration measures far beyond available resources to implement.

How do we encourage him that continued monitoring is worthwhile? What small steps could be taken to make a difference? And to help him see that he makes a difference?

This is an issue that faces many volunteers (and programs) after the first few years of initial excitement at being able to monitor a beloved water body.

Gene Williams
Snohomish County Public Works
Surface Water Management
3000 Rockefeller Avenue, M/S 607
Everett, WA 98201-4046
(425) 388-3464 x4563
gene.williams@co.snohomish.wa.us

Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 14:31:38 -0500
From: Jackson.Peter@epamail.epa.gov
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Motivating Volunteers Faced with Discouragement

Just a simple point - I would remind the volunteer that we need water quality data the most when water quality is impaired. The data are needed to document the poor condition. Otherwise, noone knows or cares. Volunteers occasionally need to be reminded that for many volunteer monitoring programs the primary purpose of collecting data is not to"enjoy nature" per se, though we all hope to do so when we are out monitoring. The primary purpose is to document the condition of a waterbody, whether it be for educational or regulatory purposes. The worse the condition of a waterbody, the more valuable the contribution of the volunteer who ventures forth to collect data that documents this poor condition.

Of course, the point of collecting data in most cases is not to "make" a waterbody look good or bad, but to document that condition that is, whatever that may be. My point here is that if someone is concerned
about the poor condition, they should feel comforted knowing their data will show that. Rather than questioning their involvement, they might want to work with their watershed organization, their state water monitoring agency, etc. to raise awareness as to the poor conditions, using their own data as support for their case. It sounds like an opportunity for this volunteer to become an advocate for his/her local water resource. Perhaps they can put their own data to good use. Maybe you can help him/her along with some suggestions, contacts etc.

Of course, as a volunteer, the person will have to have the motivation to continue monitoring, or they will stop. I am just relating how some volunteers I know have found motivation.

Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 16:15:10 -0400
From: Mayio.Alice@epamail.epa.gov
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Motivating Volunteers Faced with Discouragement

Gene,

The issue you've highlighted is an important one and I sympathize with your discouraged volunteer. It can certainly be discouraging to collect data for years and see things just get worse and worse. For one thing, volunteers want to know what's happening with their data, who's looking at it, and how it might be used to fix things. Does their data "go" anywhere? Is it reported back to them in a newsletter or in meetings? Is it used to help identify impaired waters of the state? If the state doesn't use it and the county doesn't use it, who else can use it?

We often talk about moving volunteers beyond monitoring into taking action. While we need and want monitoring data, we don't want data just for the sake of data (especially if it ends up gathering dust on a shelf or in a spreadsheet), but rather data that will be used to inform and to effect change. Ideally, government decisionmakers at some level will accept and scrutinize that data and use it to better manage water resources. But if they don't, individual volunteers and watershed organizations should, and often do, use the data to inform their communities, speak out at planning meetings, write newsletter articles and letters to the editor, present posters at fairs, etc. There are many opportunities for public involvement that can effect change, and a trained, committed volunteer monitor is ideally suited for that kind of involvement.

We do have some resources that can perhaps help. The Summer 2002 issue of The Volunteer Monitor was on volunteer monitoring success stories and should cheer up the discouraged. Another issue of the Volunteer Monitor that is very relevant is the program management issue (spring 1998), which includes articles about the "people" side of volunteer monitoring. Check them out at www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/issues.htm.

Volunteer monitors have made a difference and are making a difference every day, and we don't want anyone to get discouraged and quit!

Alice Mayio
USEPA (4503T)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 566-1184

Street Address for visitors/deliveries:
EPA West, Room 7424B
1301 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 22:44:41 -0500
From: mark a kuechenmeister <markkstreamteam888@juno.com>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] Motivating Volunteers Faced with Discouragement

Alice, Mark Kuechenmeister missouri strteam team 888, maline creek. this is the creek that we volunteer monitor for the missouri conservation department. people talk about discouragement and things are not getting better. we have been monitoring this creek for almost 10 years now ( 4 ) times a year . when we do a macroinvertibrate test we do not see alot of good macroinvertibrates in the creek just the tollerant ones. our creek has a poor rating. the state of missouri use our data for a variety of reasons. the creek is an urban creek with most of it impacted by one thing or another. i think what we are doing is not in vain but are letting people know that someone cares about this creek. we also pull out trash , plant trees around the stream banks for erossin control, attend learning seminars, putting arcticles in the local newspapers about what we are doing and helped out with a stream team display at the earthday celebration in st. louis,mo. there are so many things you can do to help out your creek, river, or lake that you should not be discouraged. as nike said just do it. thanks mark k.

Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:52:52 +0000
From: Robert Ressl <resslr@ci.arlington.tx.us>
Subject: [volmonitor] Monitoring database

In looking at most of the water quality data collected I note how there is little or no information about the conditions, in the watershed being sampled, that are the causes for the parameters being sampled. Likewise, in most of the sampling programs there is no awareness of the cause and effect relationships that exist in the ecosystem being monitored. Sampling for the purpose of collecting the basic parameters (DO, pH, Conductivity, temperature, etc.) is not bad but it is only a snapshot and doesn't even detect problems that can exist. The downside is that haveing these measurements tends to give a false sense of conficence that everything is OK and that nothing else needs to be done.

We can't seem to get past the first step (collecting the simple data) in controlling our actions that impact the environment. We seem to be no further along in the awareness program that just awareness. There are serious problems that our environment is facing and we want to increase awareness. We have to move on and fix the problems. The fixes aren't cheep and they aren't easy, and in somecases aren't possible given our current technology and philosphy.

Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:05:08 -0800
From: Eleanor Ely <ellieely@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Monitoring database
X-Originating-IP: 66.245.36.162
To: Volunteer water monitoring <volmonitor@lists.epa.gov>
Reply-to: Volunteer water monitoring <volmonitor@lists.epa.gov>

Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:52:29 -0500
From: URI Watershed Watch <uriww@etal.uri.edu>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] Monitoring database
To: Volunteer water monitoring <volmonitor@lists.epa.gov>

Robert - you are absolutely correct. And that is why some monitoring programs are creating partnerships with other organizations that may have the info needed to make sense of it all.

For example - some programs are turning to NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) efforts. NEMO typically uses GIS and other assessment tools to evaluate landscapes, in order to help communities to restore degraded areas or reduce impacts from development. Please see
http://www.nemonet.uconn.edu/index.htm for more information about NEMO or to
find a program near you.

By linking monitoring data with the models and other NEMO tools, a more accurate picture of what is happening within a watershed is developed. In addition, NEMO projects typically have technical resources that permit them to create maps and other presentation materials that monitoring programs may not have access to. This allows the monitoring data to be presented in a manner more easily understood by officials and the community - hopefully encouraging them to adopt the best management practices needed to restore or protect watershed resources. Alabama NEMO, NH's NROC, and RI NEMO programs are examples of NEMO programs that have fully embraced the use volunteer
monitoring data.

I'm know there are other examples where organizations have used these concepts to move from data to action, several of which were explored in the monitoring successes issue of The Volunteer Monitor newsletter (http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/issues.htm) that was previously mentioned by Ellie Ely.

But if anyone has any suggestions on how we can make that important step of actually using the data locally easier for our programs, please share them!

Elizabeth Herron
URI Watershed Watch
Phone: 401-874-4552
Fax: 401-874-4561
Web: http://www.uri.edu/ce/wq/

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