With the start of a new year, the WALPA Board is renewing its efforts to seek funding for a statewide volunteer lake water quality monitoring program. At the 28th annual WALPA conference in Walla Walla last October, attendees discussed and generated ideas for volunteer lake monitoring, and considered how a program coordinated and administered through WALPA might look. This “visioning session” provided valuable feedback to the Board about the needs and benefits of volunteer lake monitoring, logistical aspects of volunteer coordination, technical components of water quality monitoring, and funding ideas.
The WALPA Board plans to use the ideas generated from this discussion and from collaborative discussions with other stakeholder agencies and organizations to build a framework for statewide volunteer lake monitoring in Washington. With a framework in place, the Board will seek funding for a pilot program that could serve as a catalyst and building block for a consistent, long-term citizen lake monitoring program like the well-established and highly-regarded programs in Maine, Minnesota, Vermont, New York, and Wisconsin.
More background and details about statewide volunteer lake monitoring and WALPA’s current efforts can be found in this memo prepared and distributed at the conference in Walla Walla.
Individuals or groups interested in learning more or supporting WALPA’s efforts may contact Siana Wong at sianawong@gmail.com or Jim Gawel at jimgawel@u.washington.edu.
