11/29/2006 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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watershed. FMR staff will work closely with the volunteers during monitoring events to ensure protocols are followed and to provide follow -up training as needed. FMR and Anoka Conservation District personnel will provide multiple levels of quality control of the methods employed by the volunteers in the lab and in the field. Once collected data has been quality assured, a final report will be written and a presentation developed that summarizes the monitoring results. These results will be posted on FMR's website with links to and from partner websites. FMR will coordinate with local partners and community organizations to share published results through newsletters, websites and media outreach. FMR will organize volunteers to present the SHEP results to local city councils, the county board and the watershed district board highlighting correlations between their data and land uses within the watershed. These presentations serve as an excellent learning opportunity for elected and public officials. Hearing about water quality issues, concerns and successes directly from citizens will have the greatest impact on how water resources are managed by decision - makers. Volunteers often become even more passionate about the resources they monitor, and they wish to participate in activities that enhance the health of their watershed. Where practical, FMR will assist volunteers with planning and carrying out stewardship projects in the watershed, such as river and pond clean-ups, storm drain stenciling, invasive species removals and native plantings. In order to demonstrate the program's effectiveness and replicability, Dr. Julia Frost Nerbonne of HECUA will design and implement an evaluation of the volunteer monitoring program which will evaluate the following questions: 1. Are the volunteers providing reliable data? 2. Are volunteers feeling engaged in stewardship? 3. Through which channels are monitoring results being communicated to decision - makers? 4. What are the barriers and bridges to effective use of volunteer data in decision - making? We believe that citizen volunteer monitoring can be a powerful agent for positive change in water resource protection. Our vision is to create a model program that will strengthen volunteer monitoring credibility by proactively addressing and rectifying the perceived weaknesses of current volunteer monitoring programs and thereby harness this power to actively engage citizens in water resource enhancement. Based as it is on metrics and protocols developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the various ecoregions of Minnesota, and with a thorough and independent evaluation of the model's effectiveness, the Stream Health Evaluation Program model will be well- suited for use throughout the state once it is established. We have chosen to develop the Stream Health Evaluation Program in partnership with the Anoka Conservation District, the Rice Creek Watershed District and local cities in order to ensure the program's continuation and utility. Our experience in other areas has shown that volunteer monitoring can be a powerful tool for both mobilizing and energizing committed resource advocates and for connecting citizens in a proactive and supportive manner to their local governments in working towards common goals. We anticipate the Rice Creek Watershed District and local cities will provide the annual financial support for the continuation of this program. Friends of the Mississippi River Proposal to the Minnesota Community Foundation Page 3 of 3 • • •