Online Resources
- Texas Stream Team Home
- River Systems Institute
- Texas Commission On Environmental Quality
- Environmental Protection Agency Region 6
- Aquarena Center
Share This Page
How to Become A Monitor
Becoming A Monitor
Anyone with a desire to monitor water quality or learn more about the natural resources in Texas can be involved. Volunteers monitor a wide variety of habitats from rivers, creeks, ponds, and lakes to bays, bayous, and estuaries. Over 300 groups have been trained in Texas Stream Team to date. These groups range in size from one person monitoring a single site to groups whose members monitor more than 50 sites. Volunteers range from third-graders to senior citizens, from individuals to groups like the Girl Scouts and the Sierra Club. Many of the groups are science teachers and their students.
Texas Stream Team Certified Water Quality Monitors are volunteers that complete a monitoring plan and go through three phases of training using a test kit that measures physical and chemical parameters in water. Participation in the program includes these commitments:
While not a requirement for participation, volunteers are asked for a one-year commitment to monitor their site. The information collected with a Texas Stream Team kit can be considered baseline data that provide an overall picture of water quality. The physical and chemical properties of water can vary dramatically over a year and from year to year. Two years of data is considered the minimum needed to capture baseline conditions and the natural variability at a site.
Volunteers are asked to monitor their site(s) monthly at the same time of day each month. For example, a possible monitoring schedule would be the first Saturday of the month at 10:00 am. The adherence to a consistent monitoring time is crucial because the physical and chemical parameters fluctuate over a 24-hour period. Monitoring takes approximately one to two hours.
In order to collect quality-assured data, volunteers are asked to attend two quality-control sessions in the first year and one session per year thereafter. The Texas Stream Team protocols were developed under a Quality Assurance Project Plan (currently under being updated) approved by the TCEQ. The QAPP ensures volunteers collect information of the highest quality and that volunteers are collecting data that can augment professional data.
How to Become a Monitor
Step 1. Select a monitoring site. Your monitoring site can be a stream, river, lake, wetland, playa, bay, bayou, estuary or any body of water that maintains water most of the year. Safety concerns are a priority when selecting a site:
Be cautious of traffic when accessing the site. Park your vehicle safely off roads and out of the way of traffic.
Sample your site from bridges with pedestrian walkways, from docks, or from stream banks whenever possible. If you must enter the water, always have a partner on the shore nearby.
Approach your site carefully! Be on the lookout for snakes, fire ants, wasps, poison ivy, wild animals, or briars.
If you need assistance selecting a site, call your partner (see Step 2 below) or e-mail Texas Stream Team.
Step 2. Determine your river basin and contact your partner. Texas Stream Team has many lead partners throughout the state that fully support volunteers. Look at the Texas Stream Team Lead Partner list to determine if there is a lead partner in your basin or city and call or e-mail the contact to let him or her know you are interested in volunteering. The local partner will assist you in site selection, getting a kit, and completing your monitoring plan and will schedule a training session with you.
If you are unsure of your basin, or if no partner for your basin or city is listed, e-mail Texas Stream Team.
Step 3. Complete a Monitoring Plan Form. The monitoring plan will help you ask questions, seek answers, and solve any potential problems before you begin monitoring. This will make your volunteer monitoring experience more productive and positive. A monitoring plan guidance is provided. The monitoring plans should be brought to your first training session.
If you need assistance completing the monitoring plan, contact your partner (see Step 2 above) or e-mail Texas Stream Team.
Step 4. Obtain a kit. If your organization can afford to buy a kit, you can order a Texas Stream Team kit for $400 - $500. Talk to your partner (step 2) or e-mail Texas Stream Team for assistance in selecting a kit that is appropriate for your basin or site. Texas Stream Team encourages volunteers to find a local patron or sponsor to donate kits. Several partners provide kits and Texas Stream Team can assist groups in finding a kit as well.
| CODE | NOTES | PRICE FOR 1-2 KITS | PRICE FOR >3 KITS |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAP-9849-D3 or D4 | basic kit - D3 low range | $450.00 | $405.00 |
| D4 high range | |||
| for TDS (conductivity) pocketester | |||
| NAP-9859-D3 or D4 | same as NAP-9849 without goggles & gloves | $395.00 | $355.00 |
| XX00083-D4 | Same as NAP-9859 without pH kit;includes pH #10 pocketester and high conductivity pocketester. | $450.00 | $405.00 |
| XX00083-TDS3 | Same as XX0083-D4 except with low conductivity pocketester | $450.00 | $405.00 |
| XXOO416-D3 | basic kit without secchi disk & goggles & gloves | $350.00 | $315.00 |
| XXOO350 | storm drain pollution kit with ammonia-nitrogen kit and thermometer added | $485.00 | $436.50 |
| NAP-9857-D3 | DO KIT; PH KIT; Sample Bottle; Thermometer | $239.00 | $215.10 |
Step 5. Obtain E. coli monitoring equipment. Like obtaining a kit, you can purchase E. coli monitoring equipment yourself or you can contact your local partner or Texas Stream Team to obtain the appropriate equipment.
Easygel E. coli equipment and accessories are purchased through Micrology Labs (http://www.micrologylabs.com/). Easygel is an agar replacement that comes in a sterilized, two-piece unit including a bottle of liquid medium and a plate treated with a special formulation. The material comes ready to use. Monitors just add a sample and pour the solution into a pre-treated petri dish.