Community* Science Water Quality Monitoring Program

We have partnered with the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS), Colorado State University and the Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPHE) to create and manage a Community Science Water Quality Monitoring Program in the Upper Poudre Watershed. To date, CPRW’s community science volunteers have collected over 900 water samples.

Our Community Science Water Quality Monitoring Program has three focus areas:

1. Develop a baseline data set of water quality in high priority reaches (based on CPRW’s Upper Poudre Resiliency Plan)

2. Collect water quality data to measure the impact of prescribed fire, an increasingly important forest management tool, on our waterways

3. Monitor the impacts from the Cameron Peak Fire and track outcomes from post-fire restoration

*You may have noticed we changed the name of this program from “citizen science” to “community science,” a more inclusive term. Citizenship has no bearing on people’s ability to participate in this program and we want the words we use to reflect that this work is inclusive of all folks in our community. This change mimics the recent decision by the Citizen Science Association to change their name to the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences.

Calling all community scientists!

Volunteers will collect water quality data in small streams in the Upper Poudre Watershed on a monthly basis from June-October. Fill out the below form if you are interested in learning more.