More data, more data, more data! This is one answer to the big question of how citizens can help monitor water quality and contribute much-needed information on when and where water quality is good and bad.
To train citizens and volunteers how to use lower-cost, do-it-yourself technologies to monitor water quality on their own and share real-time results with the world, Stroud Water Research Center staff took a road trip to Rockford, Michigan, this July. Shannon Hicks, Rachel Johnson, and Scott Ensign presented a two-day workshop in coordination with Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.
The 22 workshop participants learned how to write code that runs a Mayfly data logger, construct an EnviroDIY Mayfly Sensor Station, and some got their feet wet deploying the station safely in a stream. The team helped Trout Unlimited deploy another four Mayfly-based sensor stations around the Grand Rapids region over the course of the week. The real-time data from the new sensor stations, as well as other stations across the country and around the world, can be seen on MonitorMyWatershed.org (click “Browse Sites” in the main menu).
Learn More: Digital Mayfly Data Logger Sensor Stations Monitoring Watersheds (Environmental Monitoring magazine) | A Digital Mayfly Swarm Is Emerging (Eos) | Build Your Own EnviroDIY Sensor Station (EnviroDIY)
