Get Involved
Who Can Volunteer?
UWW is a free program and is open to volunteers of all ages. Volunteering is a fun way to learn more about water quality and help protect lakes and streams in Utah. Examples of potential volunteers include:
- Interested citizens
- Families
- Teachers and students
- Boaters, fishermen, and other outdoor enthusiasts
- Church / community groups
- Both rural and urban residents
- Retired professionals
If you have an interest in lakes or streams, would like to learn more about water quality, and are excited about getting outside to help monitor, sign up to be a volunteer! To get started, we have two monitoring programs to choose from. For beginners, we offer our Tier 1 monitoring program. With this program, you will learn monitoring basics and contribute your data to our online database. For retired professionals or others with a background in environmental monitoring, check out our Tier 2 monitoring program. With either of these programs, there is also an option to do harmful algal bloom (cyanobacteria) monitoring.
How can I become a volunteer?
There are 3 steps to becoming a volunteer:
1. Fill out the volunteer registration form.
2. Attend a workshop and become certified.
3. Work with the coordinator to choose a site to monitor.
Specific directions for these steps are located in the above tabs.
How much time does it take?
UWW is a flexible program that requires small monthly time commitment.
- About 30 minutes per site visit - not including travel time.
- A minimum commitment of monitoring a field site once a month for seven months out of the year (usually April to October).
- Volunteers may monitor more frequently if desired or needed to meet monitoring objectives.
Why should we monitor water quality?
Water is an essential natural resource that all people, animals, and plants need to live.
Utah has great need for water quality monitors. Even though this is a dry state, there are over 2,000 lakes and almost 15,000 miles of permanent streams. We need your help to effectively monitor these water bodies.
Volunteering with UWW:
Gain an in depth understanding of why water quality is important.
- Hands on experience recording water quality data to monitor conditions
- Help protect local lakes and streams
- Help state agencies manage water bodies by sharing data
UWW trains volunteers about watershed science and how to sample and measure water quality in lakes and streams. Volunteers use standardized methods and equipment to measure both qualitative visual assessments and quantitative measurements.
Water quality parameters include:
- Biological - Algae, Bacteria, Aquatic Macroinvertebrates, Plants
- Chemical - Dissolved Oxygen, Nutrients, pH
- Physical - Habitat, Temperature, Turbidity
Volunteer Registration
Each person who wants to become a certified volunteer needs to fill out a Volunteer Registration Form. If your group wants to participate
in UWW, a minimum of one volunteer needs to be certified (i.e., a teacher can be certified
and then carry out the monitoring with the students). To get certified, contact us
or fill out the online form below.
Training Workshop
You need to attend a training workshop to become a certified volunteer. Workshops start in the classroom to learn water quality and watershed basics, then head outdoors to learn and practice monitoring techniques. In workshops, volunteers learn about:
- Scientific method, ethics, and safety
Clean Water Act, beneficial uses of water in Utah, and water quality standards- Watershed science
- Point source and non-point source pollution
- The importance of water quality and threats to lake and stream health
- Why we monitor water quality
- In the field operating procedures and methods to monitor water quality
- Quality Control / Quality Assurance
- How to record and report data collected
- Proper uses of data
To see what you will be learning, download the Training PowerPoint presentation.
Workshops are generally held throughout the state every spring. After filling out your volunteer registration form, a UWW staff member will contact
you about opportunities to attend workshops. Volunteers can attend pre-scheduled workshops
or work with the program coordinator to schedule a workshop at a different time. Check
the calendar to see if any training workshops are happening near you.
See the calendar for training opportunities.
What Site to Monitor
There are two methods to select a site to monitor:
- Choose from a pre-approved list of sites that state and local water managers have identified. Click here to see a map of these sites.
- If the pre-approved sites do not meet your needs, we work with you and the local watershed coordinators to determine an appropriate site. Before attending a workshop, fill out the site registration form below with as many sections as possible to help with the process.
PDF and Microsoft Word document Site Registration Forms are provided below.
Site Registration Form (PDF) Site Registration Form (MS Word)
This map shows sites that are actively being monitored in red and blue and sites that are available for a new volunteer in yellow and purple.