Colorado Water Quality Monitoring Council

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Colorado Water Quality Monitoring Council

• An Activities Report
• to the
• National Water Quality Monitoring Council
• by
• Holly Huyck, Steve Lohman, Ben Alexander, Bill
  Horak
• Denver, Colorado
• July 16, 2002

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Formation of CWQMC

• Feb. 98 WRRI Director letter to CDPHE, USGS
• Nov. 98 Testing the waters mtg.
• John Klein spoke about NWQMC
• Strong support for Council idea
• Jan. 99 Created organizing committee
• June 99 Officially launched CWQMC

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An Early Show-Stopper Issue

• Will this Council attempt a prescriptive
  stance toward monitoring activities of its member
  agenciesor non-members that do monitoring in
  Colorado??
• Had to deal head-on with that concern before
  we could move forward

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CharterColorado Water Quality Monitoring
CouncilLeading the Way in Public/Private
Collaboration

• Purpose
• Goals
• Membership
• Organization

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Purpose

• Statewide collaborative body, open to all
• Seeks to improve the linkage between information
  needs of policy and decision makers with efforts
  to collect and assess data
• Promotes effective monitoring programs
• Shall address the full range of water quality
  information
• Non-voting body that operates through consensus

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Goals

• Provide a forum for effective communication,
  cooperation, collaboration, and documentation
  among individuals and organizations involved in
  monitoring
• Promote the development of collaborative and
  cost effective watershed-based monitoring
  strategies

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Goals (cont.)

• Promote the use of quality assurance procedures
  and protocols related to sample collection,
  analytical methods, assessment, data management
  and distribution
• Provide strategic direction for a statewide
  structure for the acquisition, analysis,
  archiving, and dissemination of water-quality
  information

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Membership

• Individuals/organizations who are involved in
  water quality (or quantity) monitoring in
  Colorado
• Participate in at least one watershed/basin
  group or association
• Agree to share data and cooperate with other
  monitoring entities

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Membership (cont.)

• Officers
• Chair
• Treasurer
• Other Officers as deemed necessary
• All selected from and by the Council, by
  consensus
• Officers rotated annually
• Dues

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Organization

• Committees
• The Council may establish ad hoc or standing
  committees to address issues of statewide
  concern.

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Organization (cont.)

• Standing Committees To Date
• Steering Committee
• Monitoring Coordination Committee
• Data Management Committee
• Outreach and Information Sharing Committee
• Aquatic Life Committee

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Highlighted Accomplishments2000 2001

• Improved Communications use pre- and
  post-meeting email packets
• Assisted with update of Colorado Geological
  Surveys Directory of Colorado Water Quality data
• Conducted MetaData Swap for Clear Creek Basin
• Colorado Water Quality Conference Co-hosted
  with AWRA
• Developed a CWQMC website
• Fostered close ties with NWQMC and MDCB

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Colorado Water Quality Monitoring
Council Chartered Purpose and Goals with
Planned Actions for 2002

  Actions in red are highest priorities for
2002  
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  Goals and Planned Actions for 2002 Provide
a forum for effective communication, cooperation,
collaboration, and documentation among
individuals and organizations involved in
monitoring.             Foster the continued
development of trust among CWQMC
members.             Increase our membership and
encourage active participation by members.
            Identify and document the
water-quality information needs of
members.             Enable Council to raise
funds by obtaining 501c status and develop visual
identity (logo).             Develop and
maintain an attractive and highly functional
website.             Develop Web-based map index
to the who, what, where, why of WQ monitoring in
Colorado.             Take advantage of
NWQMC Denver meeting as outreach
opportunity.             Plan a Nat. Monitoring
Day observance and the next WQ Conference
            Promote CWQMC as an informational
resource and supportive forum to WQ policy
makers.
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 Goals and Planned Actions for 2002
(cont.) Promote the development of collaborative
and cost-effective watershed-based monitoring
strategies.             Develop a strategy to
work more closely with watershed groups that are
doing or plan to do water-quality
monitoring.             Encourage/facilitate
two-way transfer of information about monitoring
strategies and current programs to and from
watershed groups.             Promote the
components of effective monitoring programs.
            Identify information needs and
conduct data swaps for river basins about to
undergo triennial review  
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Goals and Planned Actions for 2002
(cont.) Promote the use of quality assurance
procedures and protocols Related to sample
collection, analytical methods, assessment, data
management,and dissemination.             Be
actively involved with the NWQMCs Methods and
Data Comparability Board and
effectively transfer information between the
NWQMC and CWQMC.            
Continue development of Minimal Data Elements
(MDE) recommendations for monitoring
activities in CO Use of MDE must remain
voluntary.             Decide what role, if
any, CWQMC will seek in (1) WQ data management
and (2) data interpretation and
assessment for policy and decision
processes. 
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• Goals and Planned Actions for 2002 (cont.)
• Provide strategic direction for a statewide
  structure for the acquisition, analysis,
  archiving, and dissemination of water-quality
  information
• Encourage members to articulate the why
  of their
• monitoring work.
• Last revision May 17, 2002

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Current CWQMC Committee Activities

• National Monitoring Day Outreach Committee
• Post-Fire Water Quality Committee
• Continual Enhancements of CWQMC Website
• CWQMC Brochure Effort Chris Crouse and Holly
  Huyck Done !

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Colorado Water Quality Monitoring Council
About the Council Meetings Agendas
Minutes Monitoring Tools Monitoring Plans and
Methods Database Management Colorado Water
Quality Monitoring Locations Water-Quality
Related Groups and Events Other Useful
Links Water-Quality Related Grants
Purpose The Colorado Water Quality Monitoring
Council will serve as a statewide collaborative
body, open to all, to help achieve effective
collection, analysis and dissemination of water
quality data, and monitoring information. The
Council seeks to improve the linkage between
information needs of policy and decision makers
with efforts to collect and assess data. The
Council promotes effective monitoring programs
that include the components of goal
identification, data collection, analysis,
storage, retrieval, and reporting/dissemination
of information. The Council shall address the
full range of water quality information,
including chemical, biological, and physical
characteristics of surface and ground waters.
The Council is a non-voting body that operates
through consensus.
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Future CWQMC Committee Activities

• Survey of interests and needs of member
  organizations
• Decision and possible action on obtaining 501c
  non-profit status
• Data-management issues and needs in support of
  data swaps
• Effective connection of CWQMC to MDCB (NWQMC) and
  its products
• Productive association of CWQMC with
  watershed-based activities

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Challenges to Success of the CWQMC

• Time
• Money