The Charlotte Harbor Estuaries Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Network is a coordinated system of volunteer water quality monitoring groups for the aquatic preserves within the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) area. The Monitoring Network includes the Northern Charlotte Group, the Three Creek Watch of Lemon Bay, the Pine Island Group and the Estero Bay Group.

The project is a cooperative effort of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Charlotte Harbor & Estero Bay Aquatic & Buffer Preserves Offices & South Florida District Branch Laboratory, the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Surface Water Improvement Management Program, and the CHNEP.

The program is unique because it:

• includes monitoring sites in all 6 of the aquatic preserves in the Charlotte Harbor estuaries;
• builds on & expands existing volunteer monitoring programs;
• provides both scientific & educational functions; and
• includes critical quality assurance, data management and training components necessary for providing credible data and long term volunteer support.

Volunteers are THE critical component to the success of the monitoring program. Educating the volunteers and the general public about the values of estuaries through monitoring will lead to active, self-supporting Citizens Support Organizations for each of the Aquatic Preserves and the CHNEP. The volunteer monitoring program was initiated in October 1996 and now 106 volunteers monitor 38 locations within the estuary.

Once a month volunteers sample 14 field parameters which include:

In addition to the 14 parameters measured in the field, samples for six additional parameters are collected by volunteers, and analyzed at the FDEP South District Laboratory in Punta Gorda. These parameters include fecal coliform bacteria, Chlorophyll a, turbidity, and three nitrogen and phosphorus parameters.

Volunteers receive initial classroom training on the importance of estuarine environments and the need for their monitoring results. They learn how the estuaries change according to location and throughout the year. They also receive classroom training on the tested parameters and the techniques used.

After the initial classroom training, volunteers are trained in the field. To assure quality data all trained volunteers attend quality assurance practice sessions as a group twice a year.

Every month volunteers record the data onto data sheets. The data is then entered into a database and transformed into graphs and tables. Graphs and tables give an understandable picture of the water quality of the sites over time. All of the data is made available to scientists, state and local government agencies, policy makers, and citizen’s organizations.

This data is also available to the general public through this site. There is both a map of the sampling sites and a table of links for the data from each site. A summary of results has also been posted.

Data from this project will determine base level conditions throughout the estuary where little data previously existed. Once the base level conditions have been established, the data is then available for future uses in resource management, which includes activities such as permitting, recreational decisions, land use and infrastructure decisions, determining permit compliance as well as determining future monitoring needs.  The data will be meaningful after approximately 2 ½ years of monthly sampling when statistical analyses can be conducted.

The Project Coordinator for the Charlotte Harbor Estuaries Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Network is Mindy Schneider at the DEP Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves office in Punta Gorda. Mindy’s telephone number is (941) 575-5861 or she may be reached by email at Melynda.A.Schneider@dep.state.fl.us.