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In partnership with the NYS Housing Trust Fund Corporation, Housing Action Council and select municipalities, Habitat for Humanity will coordinate the construction of accessory apartments on the properties of low- to moderate-income residents of Bedford, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson and Yorktown. 

For additional information please visit Plus One ADU - Habitat NYC and Westchester

About CVMP

The Westchester County Citizens’ Volunteer Monitoring Program (CVMP) was established in 2003, through Safe Drinking Water Act funding distributed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), in order to create a baseline of water quality data on both lotic (streams and rivers) and lentic (ponds and lakes) waterbodies throughout Westchester County and to make this water quality data accessible to the public.

Westchester is a county with unparalleled resources of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, many surrounded by wooded areas. These water resources support many important benefits, such as a drinking water supply for both Westchester and New York City, recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat and fishing.  In order to protect these resources, it is important to understand the county's water quality so that we gain a better understanding of our environment and we become more cognizant of human impacts to water quality. The CVMP is not a policing effort, rather it is a means to create a comprehensive database of water quality information for the watersheds of Westchester County.

Who will use the data?
All data will be accessible to the public through an interactive Web site database.

What parameters will be monitored?
To achieve a complete understanding of the water quality changes over time, the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the sampling sites will be assessed. The specific parameters being tested are listed in the table below.

 Physical Chemical   Biological  
 Flow Alkalinity Macroinvertebrates  (water critters) 
 Turbidity Salinity  
 Substrate Conductivity  
 Water Appearance Dissolved Oxygen  
 Stream Banks and Channel Nitrate-Nitrogen  
 Stream Habitat pH  
 Riparian Zone Phosphate  
 Water Temperature    

Why Volunteers?
Volunteers are a necessary component of the program because government agencies do not have the monitoring resources to collect water quality information on all waterbodies. Volunteers enable data collection on unmonitored waterbodies.

Volunteers' Benefits

  • Learn exciting water quality testing techniques
  • Network with other water quality volunteers
  • Understand what is in your water glass
  • Get to know your backyards and community

Where?
Stream monitoring sites will be evenly distributed throughout Westchester County. Each site must be easily accessible, wadeable and located on a riffle, and we must have landowner permission to access the sites.

What is the monitoring frequency?
All data will be collected in the morning (to avoid variability caused by normal daily fluctuations) according to the following schedule:

  • Chemical and physical - weekly during the summer months
  • Macroinvertebrates - twice a year, one in spring and one in fall

Who will do what task?
Volunteers will monitor a site in teams of at least two members, however larger teams enable the group to form subteams that alternate collection dates.

Why are Teams Necessary?

  • Stay safe
  • Divide and share work
  • Support and help each other
  • Promote citizen involvement
  • Choose role according to individual member's talents and interests
  • Have more fun!  

When are the training workshops?
Spring training workshops consist of one weekend field day and are overflowing with everything you need to know to start investigating Westchester County's streams.

Volunteers' Role
All volunteers must go through a training workshop where they will learn water quality collection procedures. No fee or experience is necessary to participate in a training workshop. After completing the workshop, volunteers are then able to join a monitoring team. All volunteers in a team commit to the program for at least a year and volunteers can commit to longer periods of time if they like. Since the monitoring schedule is vigorous during the warm months, it is recommended (but not required) that teams form subteams that alternate data collection dates. Collecting water quality data will take between two to three hours of time, depending on distance between sites and experience level. We understand volunteers might not be able to collect samples every week, but we ask that a replacement team be found to cover those dates that the assigned team cannot monitor. 

How can I get involved?
The volunteer program has ended.  For more information about other environmental volunteer opportunities, contact the Parks Department.