CEMP Partnership of the Cook Inlet Watershed

The Citizens' Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP) Partnership of the Cook Inlet Watershed includes: Anchorage Waterways Council, Kenai Watershed Forum, Cook Inlet Keeper, the Homer, Wasilla, and Upper Susitna Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Matnuska-Susitna Borough, and UAA-Environment and Natural Resources Institute. The Partnership has been working to integrate the interests and concerns of the Native communities throughout Cook Inlet and, in addition, is working with the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society to share examples of methods, protocols, and Quality Assurance information.

Since 1996

� Trained over 575 citizens

� 235 estuarine, stream, lake and wetland monitoring sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 3785 observations

� Contributed over $ 310,600 worth of volunteer time

� Contributed over $500,000 worth of volunteer time, cash and equipment contributions

FY2003

� Trained 108 citizens

� 158 active monitors

� 147 active sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 914 observations

� Contributed over $97,000 worth of volunteer time

� Contributed over $200,000 worth of volunteer time, cash and equipment contributions

Anchorage Waterways Council

Project: Anchorage Citizens' Environmental Monitoring Program

Since 1998

� Trained over 97 citizens

� 23 stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 572 observations

� Contributed over $ 63,586 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 22 citizens

� 38 active monitors

� 23 active stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 171 observations

� Contributed over $37,081worth of volunteer time

� 8 temperature loggers deployed for 150 days (Feb 15 to July 15), with each getting an observation 24 times a day = 28,800 obs

Homer Soil and Water Conservation District

Project: The Cook Inlet Watershed Health Project

The purpose of the project is to protect priority waters at risk in the Cook Inlet basin. The project has two components that which include: 1) gather professional level, in-depth water quality and flow data from four Kenai Peninsula salmon streams (Anchor River, Deep Creek, Stariski Creek, and Ninilchik River); 2) use the CEMP program on the lower Kenai Peninsula as a model to foster and guide similar citizen-based monitoring in Cook Inlet basin to actively involve citizens and community groups in watershed monitoring and protection and ensure consistency, credibility, and cost-effectiveness. The District contracts out to Cook Inlet Keeper to implement the water quality monitoring programs.

Lower Kenai Peninsula Salmon-bearing Stream Monitoring Project

Since 1998

� 51 citizens have volunteered as field assistants

� 13 sites monitored in the four salmon-bearing streams

� 512 observations collected

� $14,356 worth of volunteer time contributed

FY2003

� 8 citizens have volunteered as field assistants

� 12 sites monitored in the four salmon-bearing streams

� 95 observations collected

� $992 worth of volunteer time contributed

� 20,236 temperature readings from remote sensing temperature loggers at 3 sites in three watersheds from summer 2002

Kachemak Bay and Anchor River CEMP

Since 1996

� Trained over 250 citizens

� 106 estuarine, stream, wetland and lake sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 1600 observations

� Contributed over $118,558 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 27 citizens (6-wetlands monitoring; 2-bioassessment)

� 39 active monitors

� 26 active estuarine, stream and wetland monitoring sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 253 observations

� Contributed over $20,661 worth of volunteer time

� 26,108 temperature readings from remote sensing temperature loggers at 4 sites in three watersheds from summer 2002 and May 2003 to present

Kenai Watershed Forum

Project: Collaborative Water Quality Monitoring of the Kenai River Watershed

The Kenai Watershed Forum has 3 elements of monitoring: Citizens' Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP), Agency baseline monitoring, and remote electronic instrument monitoring. Financial contributions for the FY03 for all programs are as follows:

� $21,094 worth of volunteer time

� $33,300 of cash contributions

� $24,450 worth of equipment use based on rental value

Citizens' Environmental Monitoring Program

Since 1997

� Trained over 97 citizens

� 19 stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 445 observations

� Contributed over $ 31,235 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 21 citizens

� 21 active monitors

� 19 active stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 109 observations

� Contributed over $7,681 worth of volunteer time

Agency Baseline Monitoring

� Agency Baseline monitoring follows the 1998 - "Framework for Water Quality Monitoring for the Kenai River Watershed".

� Agreed to by 29 participants from all levels of government, non-profit agencies and local businesses.

� Samples for (hydrocarbons, total and dissolved metals, nutrients, fecal coliform and standard in-situ parameters) In place since July 2000 

� 44 observations/year

� 25 parameters per observation

� 3 years completed

� Supported through MOU by 14 partners including ADEC until FY 04.

� Demonstrated that the Kenai River is not meeting state water quality standards for hydrocarbons in the summer months.

� 15 trained volunteers active in the program

� Contributed over $13,413 worth of volunteer time for FY03

� Contributed over $40,239 worth of volunteer time since July 2000

� $66,600 of cash contributions since July 2001

� $48,900 worth of equipment use based on rental value since July 2001

Remote Electronic Instrument Monitoring

� Utilizes hydrolabs purchased by private foundation, 6 instruments collect data on 4 in-situ parameters on a programmed interval of 30 minutes (Dissolved Oxygen, pH, temperature, and conductivity)

� Observations in FY 02: 26,890 observations * 4 parameters

� Observations in FY 03: 38,000+ observations * 4 parameters (still compiling data from June)

� Near year round data on Soldotna creek (focal site)

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Project: Matnuska-Susitna Lake Assessment Program

Since 2000

� Trained over 50 citizens

� Approximately 30 lake sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 120 observations

� Contributed over $7,909 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 21 citizens

� 20 active monitors

� 23 active lake monitoring sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 33 observations

� Contributed over $3804 worth of volunteer time

Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District

Project: Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District Watershed Development Project

The Wasilla Soil & Water Conservation District has partnered with two other conservation districts to incorporate the 319 program into their yearly plan. This year the Wasilla Soil & Water Conservation District planned on added another conservation district into the program. The district has also expanded beyond the chemical monitoring to biological monitoring and held training outside of the scope of our FY03 tasks due to the increased interest of our longtime water monitors to do more and be more involved. Along with water monitoring the district provides public education and outreach through the development of a watershed brochure and a on-going cooperative agreement with several agencies as well as schools in our district resulting in several restoration projects in which the public and school children played key roles.

Since 1999

� Trained over 60 citizens

� 16 stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 304 observations

� Contributed over $ 24,478 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 12 citizens

� 22 active monitors

� 16 active stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 116 observations

� Contributed over $ $7178 worth of volunteer time

Upper Susitina Soil and Water Conservation District

Project: Upper Susitna Watershed-Data Collection

Since 2001

� Trained over 25 citizens

� 7 stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 100 observations

� Contributed over $ 9,097 worth of volunteer time

FY2003

� Trained 6 citizens

� 18 active monitors

� 7 active stream sites

� Collected extensive baseline data with more than 93 observations

� Contributed over $5,035 worth of volunteer time

UAA: Environment & Natural Resources Institute

Projects: Biological Monitoring & Assessment for Southeast Alaska

Note: This project was to provide outreach and education activities contributing to the collection of biological monitoring information for the state of Alaska.

� Developed both technical and volunteer level methods for Bioassessment of wadeable Alaska streams

� Provides training, quality assurance, and quality control for Biological Assessment for the CEMP Partnership of the Cook Inlet Watershed

� Contributed over $1,155 worth of volunteer time for CEMP Partnership bioassessment trainings in FY03

Other Programs Across the state of Alaska

Alaska Boreal Forest Council

Project: Hydraulic Monitoring of Shaw Creek Watershed

The Alaska Boreal Forest Council received a match value of $16,060 from community volunteers, resource professionals and University faculty for its FY03 Shaw Creek project.