The 2002 Secchi Dip-In Report to the Volunteers
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The 2002 Secchi Dip-In Report to the Volunteers |
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2002: A Good Year For The Dip-In
The good news is that the Great North American Secchi Dip-In is doing just fine. The 2002 Secchi Dip-In experienced major changes as we emphasized Web-based data entry. However, the 2002 returns were only down slightly, despite the fact that volunteers had to find a computer or use their own envelope and stamp.
The Dip-In continued to add new states and provinces as participants. In some instances, the Dip-In remains the only coordinated volunteer monitoring effort in the state. We opened up the Dip-In for 12-month data entry for programs that need a year-round data repository. We see it as a service to the volunteer monitoring community and as providing us with a more extensive database.
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| he number of states or provinces that have participated each year in the Dip-In. U.S.A., dark blue; Canada, light blue; Other countries, red. |
A Bad Year For Volunteer Monitoring
The bad news is that budget cutbacks have closed some volunteer programs and stopped new ones from forming. Although studies have shown that trained volunteers can collect accurate and useful data and can do this in a manner that is extremely cost-effective, it seems that volunteer programs are the first to go with budget cutbacks. It pretty obvious the message isn’t getting across to our agencies and legislators.
You can help by supporting your volunteer program, both by providing important data and by writing letters of support to the appropriate legislators and agencies. The Dip-In is a chance to bring your legislator or agency officials to your lake or stream and show them what you are doing. Eliminate the perception that you are testing the waters just for the fun of it. Show them the value of the data you collect for the protection of water quality in your waterbody.
Trends in Transparency
This year we realized a major goal of the Dip-In when all of the data, -1994 to 2002- was consolidated into a single database. All the collected data can now be viewed at our Dip-In Web site. One of the first uses we made of all the data was to look for trends in transparency. We used only waterbodies that had five or more years of data available, although we did not differentiate between the different sites on a waterbody, the nature of the waterbody or the volunteer who collected the data.
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| Examples of lakes with significantly increasing transparency (Bolger Lake, WI) and with decreasing transparency (Big Turkey Lake, IN). |
We found five or more years of data on 1,361 waterbodies. Of these, 53 (3.9%) indicated significant decreases in transparency, while 62 (4.7%) showed significant increases in transparency. Most showed no detectible significant trends in transparenc
We were able to generate the first-ever attempt to look at the geography of transparency change (below). In the next few months we will be looking for any clues as to why these waterbodies are changing, whether it be a local effect or whether there are regional influences, such as changes in land use. This ability to look at change over the entire North American continent is entirely due to your participation. A complete listing of lakes that are changing is available at our Web site..
This Year in Water
The USEPA continues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Clean Water Act by highlighting a different part of the Act each month. July is Lakes Month, where we celebrate the impact that the Clean Lakes section of the Act has had on the quality of America’s lakes. The North American Lake Management Society has designated the month of July as Lakes Appreciation Month.
The Secchi Dip-In is a part of that celebration. Your efforts as volunteers and professionals over the past 10 years have contributed significantly to our information on North America’s waters and continues to demonstrate that volunteers can make a difference.
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| A first glimpse at changes in North America’s lakes, based on Dip-In data over 5 or more years. The blue dots indicate that the transparency is increasing, while the red dots suggest that the transparency is decreasing. |
For More Information
The North American Lake Management Society has a number of publications on monitoring and restoring lakes. Contact them at 608-233-2836 or at www.NALMS.org.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water’s monitoring program (www.epa.gov/OWOW/monitoring)supports volunteer monitoring as a way to build awareness of water issues, train citizens in pollution prevention, and increase the amount of water quality information available to decision-makers at all levels.
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