Monitoring
The Anoka Conservation District offers water testing and monitoring services on a fee basis. Our monitoring and testing is typically done to meet one of three goals:
- Detect trends or changes that may indicate a problem.
- As part of large studies to identify the source of a known problem.
- To help landowners and managers determine how to best manage their property.
Our monitoring programs include:
- lake water quality monitoring
- stream water quality monitoring
- stream biomonitoring
- stream hydrology monitoring
- lake level monitoring
- wetland hydrology monitoring
- deep groundwater hydrology (obwells) monitoring
- special studies, including impaired waters TMDL studies
Cities, watershed management organizations, or other local groups contract with the ACD to do this monitoring. Often, these groups do not have staff with expertise in this area, or the needed equipment, so hiring the ACD is cost effective for all. We are often able to provide reduced costs to public-sector agencies by subsidizing projects with grants that we secure. In this way we encourage good natural resource management by coordinating many groups and resources.
Any monitoring data collected by our office is available to public. To view the data, use the Data Access Tool. To view the most recent narrative summary of data for a particular site, utilize the links to "Related Information on ANR.com." To see the locations of the monitoring sites, use the mapping utility and check the "monitor sites" box.