Volunteer

Many of the cities within the watersheds have active outreach programs. These range from assisting lakeshore associations in promoting use of phosphorus free fertilizer to providing educational materials to schools. All of the cities have some type of citizen commission that reviews and provides recommendations to their city councils. All of the cities have planning commissions that review private developments and make recommendations on land use and zoning matters.

Brooklyn Center has an active Adopt-A-Park Program that includes frequent creek cleanups. Water quality information is included in the City Watch newsletter.

Brooklyn Park, through its Park and Recreation Department, organizes an annual Shingle Creek Clean Up. The Operations and Maintenance Department has worked together with Hennepin Parks on a storm drain stenciling project to educate people and discourage dumping into drains that lead to local rivers, streams and lakes.

Minneapolis has an extensive outreach program. Catch basin stenciling has been performed since 1993. Clean Water Partnership educational materials were developed for the Chain of Lakes project. Minneapolis sponsors an annual Earth Day Watershed Cleanup, which includes Shingle Creek. The Lake Harriet Pesticide Project has helped educate residents about proper use of pesticides to reduce impacts on surface waters. Minneapolis sponsors a Citizen's Water Quality Education Committee that puts together and distributes educational materials. Water quality information is included in Solid Waste collection literature, the City Calendar, and on City Cable Channel.

Plymouth is also very active in outreach. The Plymouth Environmental Quality Committee appointed by the City Council is responsible for many water quality initiatives. Over the past five years Plymouth has conducted an environmental fair in cooperation with area schools. The City’s phosphorus-free fertilizer ordinance bans the use of phosphate-based fertilizer throughout the City. Finally, Plymouth publishes the “Environmental Extra,” dedicated solely to environmental issues. This two-page section is published and distributed along with the City's newsletter Plymouth News.

Robbinsdale is working with citizen groups to form lake associations. One of the goals of this activity is to educate residents about phosphorus-free fertilizers.

Effective water resources management requires cities to enact various municipal controls. In accordance with EPA requirements, Minneapolis was issued its NPDES Phase I permit in 2000. Other cities in the watersheds fall under the requirements of NPDES Phase II. The Commissions developed an Education and Public Outreach Minimum Measure Program in early 2003. It was made available to the member cities (MS4s) and is intended to satisfy the basic requirements of the education and outreach and public participation minimum measures of the Phase II permit. The Commissions’ 2006 NPDES Activity Report can be viewed here.

CAMP is an opportunity for citizens to become more aware of the lakes in their communities. Volunteers monitor their lake every other week from April through October. The process takes a maximum of two hours a session. The Commission, through the Metropolitan Council’s Citizen Assisted Monitoring Program (CAMP), provides training and all supplies and equipment. Volunteers provide their time, a boat, and freezer space to store their water samples for short periods of time. No special skills are required other than the ability to handle a boat. Volunteers collect water samples, record water temperature and Secchi depth, and record their observations about lake appearance, odor, and suitability for recreation. Lake report cards are updated after annual results.

CAMP

The Metropolitan Council has been overseeing a citizen-assisted lake monitoring program (CAMP) since 1993. The purpose of CAMP is to provide lake and watershed managers with good lake quality data as well as involve local interested citizens. Involving citizens serves the dual role of substantially reducing the cost of obtaining data and at the same time, involving local residents in water quality issues.

The Commission is currently recruiting volunteers for lake monitoring.

The data that is collected is used by the Watershed Commission and other agencies such as cities, the Three Rivers Park District, the Metropolitan Council, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to better understand water quality in Shingle Creek watershed lakes as well as lake water quality generally across the Metro area and state.

Monitoring starts in mid to late April and continues through about mid October. Volunteers monitor their lake every other week; the process usually takes less than one hour a session. The Commission provides instruction in how to monitor and all supplies and equipment. Volunteers provide their time, a boat or canoe, and freezer space to store the small vials of water samples, which are generally picked up from your location about every six weeks.

If you are interested in volunteering (or have already volunteered), please contact Diane Spector at Wenck Associates, the technical advisors to the Commission, at 763-479-4280 or dspector@wenck.com. If you are not able to volunteer on your lake but know someone who may, please pass this information along to them or to Diane. She will make arrangements to provide you with your monitoring supplies and provide any training you may need.