Water Monitoring
Water quality and Watershed Health are
major issues in the Soil and Water
Conservation Districts. Districts are
involved with a variety of projects designed
to preserve and/or improvement the quality
of ground and surface water in Alaska.
Some Soil and Water Conservation
Districts in Alaska conduct water-quality
monitoring projects through the Citizens'
Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP)
where volunteers take water samples to test
the water for such indicators as pH and
temperature. That information is compiled
and shared with other agencies, including
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Volunteers are vital to these efforts
because of the many sites that need to be
monitored. Trained volunteers — from high
school students to retirees — have allowed
SWCD to compile baseline data in some
Districts.
Incentive programs help agricultural
producers commit to working toward cleaner
water on and near their farms and ranches.
The Conservation Technology Information
Center’s guide to water quality trading,
titled “Getting Paid for Stewardship: An
Agricultural Community Water Quality Trading
Guide,” is available on their website. CTIC,
in collaboration with EPA, has published
this document to help producers learn more
about water quality trading, which provides
financial compensation for producers that
use conservation practices. These practices
often lead to reductions in pollution.
Credits accumulated from these practices may
be traded with other facilities that have
exceeded their own legal discharge limits.
If you can become a water quality
monitoring volunteer in your area, contact
your local Soil and
Water Conservation District.
Conservation Technology Information Center
Cook Inlet
Keeper Citizens Environmental
Monitoring Program
CTIC Water Trading Guide
National Water Quality Monitoring Council
United States Environmental Protection
Agency
U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources
Glossaries
Stream and River Water Quality
Monitoring
Nushagak River Study in Alaska SWCD
has completed a benchmark assessment of
the river's water quality, fecal
coliform presence, and potential impacts
of riverbank erosion and presence of
hydrocarbons from motorboats. The study
was done to identify possible sources of
contamination and recommend mitigation
methods, and was done in conjunction
with DEC, NRCS, EPA, Mulchatna Watershed
Council and Bristol Bay Native
Association. The study confirmed there
is very little pollution or resource
damage occurring on the Lower Nushagak
River.
Clearwater Watershed Monitoring
The Delta-Clearwater River Watershed
contains about 232,000 acres. Salcha-Delta
SWCD initiated water-quality monitoring
in 2005 to establish baseline data
concerning the overall health of
Clearwater River and Lake. Monitoring
was conducted in 2005 and 2006 on five
sites - four on the river and on on the
lake. Water samples were tested for pH,
dissolved oxygen, conductivity,
oxidation reduction potential, nitrates,
nitrites, phosphates and turbidity.
CEMPs in Mat-Su area
By teaming together, Palmer and
Wasilla SWCDs are able to monitor 18
area sites in the combined Community
Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP).
Twelve new volunteers were trained in
two separate train in 2006. Upper
Susitna SWCD monitors eight sites.
Volunteers collect water-quality data
for baseline and screening purposes, and
share that information with other
agencies and groups.
Construction Water Quality
Monitoring
Homer SWCD partnered with private
contractors and Alaska Department of
Transportation to monitor the water
quality near a road construction
project. Water samples were taken at the
beginning of the project and after every
significant rain until the end of the
project to determine the effects of
road construction on water quality and
to determine the effectiveness of the
management practices used. The District
hopes DOT continues to use SWCDs as
partners in such projects.
Alaska Clean Water Action
Homer SWCD is engaged in an ongoing
project to address specific
water-quality issues in Deep and
Stariski creeks and Ninilchik and Anchor
river, including turbidity, phosphorus
and temperature. The project has been
expanded to include a wildlife habitat
study.
