Stream Monitoring
Citizen Volunteer Monitoring Program
There is a finite amount of water on Earth that is constantly being recycled through the environment (yes, that means the water you drink may have been drunk by someone else many years ago).
Water is constantly moving from streams to rivers to lakes to oceans then it evaporates into the clouds to reenter streams and rivers and soak into the ground in the form of rain and snow. Some waterdrops move faster than others. For example a waterdrop in a raging river moves very swiftly, but a waterdrop in groundwater moves so slowly that it may stay underground for millions of years! This never-ending journey is known as the water cycle.
To ensure that our residents are drinking potable water, the county established the Westchester County Citizen's Volunteer Monitoring Program in 2003. The program is funded through the Safe Drinking Water Act from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. It allows us to create baselines on water quality data from both lotic (streams and rivers) and lentic (ponds and lakes) waterbodies and make this water quality history accessible to the public.
Westchester has unparalleled resources of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, many surrounded by wooded areas. These aquatic resources support a plethora of activities, such as, a drinking water supply for both Westchester and NYC, recreation, wildlife habitat, commercial transportation, industrial uses, and commercial and sport fishing. To protect these resources, it's important to monitor the county's water quality so we are cognizant of how human activities affect water quality. The WCCVMP is not a policing effort, rather a means to establishing a comprehensive database of water quality data for our county watersheds.
Who will use the data?
The public will be able to access the data online.
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?
Government agencies do not have extensive monitoring resources to collect water quality information on all waterbodies so volunteers are a necessary component. 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?
Approximately 100 Stream Monitoring Sites will be evenly distributed throughout the county. Each site must be easily accessible, wadeable and located on a riffle. 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). Chemical and physical data will be collected weekly during the summer months. Macroinvertebrate data will be collected twice ayear, once in the spring and once in the 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?
Training workshops will began in spring 2003. Workshops consist of one weekend field day and are overflowing with everything you need to know to start investigating county streams. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - collect samples, learn physical and chemical parameters, and identify water critters.
Volunteers' Role
All volunteers must go through a training workshop where they learn water quality collection procedures. No fee or prior 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?
Anyone interested in joining a water monitoring team, contact Susan Darling by phone at (914) 995-4400 or by e-mail at