DEQ's Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Reaps Big Results

Environmental Challenge

Native fish populations have declined dramatically in Oregon over the past century and a half since industrial development came to our state. Many populations of salmon, steelhead and trout are extinct or at risk of extinction.

Success Story

The Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, created in the 1990s, engages a broad reach of government agencies, watershed councils, community groups and landowners working together to protect and improve the water quality of Oregon's rivers and streams. A key part of this work is accomplished through DEQ's Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program. Since its inception in 1997, the program has assisted more than 50 partner organizations around Oregon to gather environmental data from rivers and streams.

The DEQ Laboratory manages the volunteer program and trains and equips community groups to gather data to answer local questions about stream conditions. Local communities make use of the water monitoring feedback to assist with their environmental stewardship efforts. In addition, DEQ uses the data for watershed assessment and reporting, to determine if water bodies meet water quality standards, and for development of water quality improvement plans.

With the help of trained volunteers, DEQ monitors water quality at more than 1,500 sites throughout Oregon.

Over the years, volunteers have gathered more than 6 million pieces of data from over 1,500 locations around the state. DEQ Volunteer Monitoring Coordinator Steve Hanson believes the program is one of the state's best examples of involving Oregonians in solving environmental problems. "The program empowers groups across the state to help inform their decisions that affect water quality," says Hanson.

For more information about this program, see the Volunteer Monitoring page.