Friends of Muscatine Watersheds

Muscatine Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring

Water quality monitoring is a critical component of effective watershed stewardship, education, and management. Water quality monitoring can: 

* Provide an overall view of the health of an individual waterbody or a watershed; 

* Identify water quality problems and potential sources of pollution; 

* Help prioritize water quality management decisions; 

* Serve as a baseline for comparing future data and identifying trends over time; 

* Educate residents to become better stewards of their watersheds. 

Volunteers are needed to assess the condition of the streams by testing for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and other water quality parameters. Snapshot sampling is an opportunity for the young and old, experienced and first-timers, to collect water quality data. Whether you conduct a visual assessment or use sophisticated instruments, we hope your participation in a IOWATER snapshot will create a heightened awareness about local watersheds, the crucial role they play in all of our lives, and the need for stewardship. The data will be made accessible to volunteers as soon as it becomes available on www.IOWATER.net. Snapshot results are not intended to reflect exact science, but rather demonstrate the public's commitment to learn more about the quality of Muscatine City/County waters.