Help us monitor the health of a local stream! There are approximately 3,000 miles of streams and more than 100,000 storm drains in Mecklenburg County. We have an extensive surface water quality monitoring program, but we need your help monitoring this vast network of streams and storm drains. Participating in the Volunteer Monitoring Program is easy… just go look at a stream!
Streamside Snapshot
Have you seen our signs along some of the greenways? We are asking for you to send us a picture of what you are seeing in the stream with a 😊 if you think the stream looks good, or a ☹ if you see any sign of pollution. We also ask if you see a threat to water quality (ex: oil sheen, gas odor, colored water, etc.) that you please call 3-1-1 to report the issue. Don’t want to send us a text? Just fill out the online
Streamside Snapshot Formand click submit!
Streamside Assessment
If you like our Streamside Snapshot program but want to get a little more involved, you can join our Streamside Assessment program. Volunteers will participate in an “Introduction to Volunteer Monitoring: Streamside Assessment Workshop”. This workshop will introduce participants to surface water quality and how to visually identify pollution issues within our streams. Volunteers can complete the workshop
online. There is also a Story Map that will help you identify
Common Pollution Issues,
Visual Cues on the Landscape, and
False Pollution.
Once volunteers have completed the video and reviewed the Story Map, they can choose a “hot spot” from the map below. This shows multiple stream locations that you can “adopt” and routinely observe, or you can opt for a stream location of your choice. All participants need to complete and submit a
waiver form prior to participating in Streamside Assessment. Volunteers can send the completed waiver form and monitoring location to
Ken Friday. Volunteers should provide monitoring data to us as soon as they collect it so we can quickly follow up on any issues found. Just fill out the
Streamside Assessment Form online and click submit!