Lakes and ponds

 

 

Secchi Dip-In, a demonstration of the potential of volunteer monitor to gather environmentally important information on our lakes, rivers and estuaries
North American Lakes Management management and protection of lakes and reservoirs for today and tomorrow
Ohio Pond Management, a bulletin to serve as a guide for small impoundment owners and/or managers
New Hampshire Lakes Association supports local citizen efforts to care for lakes
The Washington Lake Book Chapters of this on-line book include the Hydrologic Cycle, Stratification, Oxygen, and Nutrients. (pdf file, long download time)
Canada's Aquatic Resources The whole site is beautiful and informative, but be sure to check their lakes section (Origin, physical environment, chemistry)
LAPA-WEST Organization to develop an active and effective network of stewards interested in improving water quality in the lakes and ponds of the watersheds of Western Massachusetts.
Bathymetric Maps for Massachusetts Lakes and Ponds are available from MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Lake/Watershed Stewardship Program a new watershed survey program led by Riverways, to help citizens find root causes of water quality problems and support grassroots planning and implementation of actions that help restore lake water quality.

Rivers

 

 

Kentucky Water Watch, (Volunteers protecting Kentucky riverways) many good links at this site!
Water Watch, An Australian organization
Upper Merrimack River Program in New Hampshire
Canada's Aquatic Resources Again, this whole site is beautiful and informative, but be sure to check their rivers section (Watersheds, physical properties, chemical properties)
River Biology A nice overview of what happens in a stream.

Estuaries

 

 

Volunteer Estuary Monitoring: A METHODS MANUAL EPA's manual for volunteer monitors
National Estuary Program EPA's main page on estuaries
Katahdin to the Sea Estuary Page General information on estuaries, and one activity
Estuary-Net Project Estuarine Ecology
Coastal Monitoring: Standard Operating Protocols for Coastal Programs developed by Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for Cape Cod and Islands Volunteer Water Quality Monitors.

Aquatic Plant Identification Manual for Washington's Freshwater Plants
Center for Aquatic Plants Great photos and line drawings of aquatic vegetation
Biocontrol of Eurasian Milfoil Milfoil and its control with the weevil
Bioassessment and Biocriteria EPA site on how the presence, condition and numbers of types of fish, insects, algae, plants, and other organisms are data that together provide direct, accurate information about the health of specific bodies of water.
Weeds on the web online publication of the Weed Control Methods Handbook. This handbook is what every natural areas manager should know about weed control methods.

 

Buglopedia An Australian site for kids and teachers, this page has a table of bugs with links to photos and biographies, cool!
Major Stream Invertebrates Simple descriptions and illustrations of common river bugs
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Key to Aquatic Macroinvertebrates Simple photo key to major orders
Bioindicators EPA site on biological indicators of watershed health
Field Guide to Freshwater Invertebrates Some nice illustrations of bugs, that you can download, and a brief discussion of the types of bugs found in various water quality situations
Freshwater Benthic Ecology and Aquatic Entomology Home Page comprehensive set of links to sites on bugs, biomonitoring, and impacts
Mayflies, Stoneflies, and Caddisflies whole pages on these orders from the entomology dept. at NCSU
Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Identification Key an on-line dichotomous key from the Izaak Walton League of America
Bioassessment and Biocriteria EPA site on how the presence, condition and numbers of types of fish, insects, algae, plants, and other organisms are data that together provide direct, accurate information about the health of specific bodies of water.
Macroinvertebrate proficiency quiz to asses your taxonomy skills.
NERMC PowerPoint presentation on Critter Ecology slide show on macroinvertebrate ecology as taught in our workshop (does not work in Mozilla Firefox)
Utilities MassWWP developed to organize and graph macroinvertebrate data.

 

Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Preserving Massachusetts' Water Resources
EPA's Surf Your Watershed, locate and get information on US watersheds
Massachusetts/Rhode Island hydrological data Real time river flow data
Monitoring Water Quality, monitoring methods and tools, and software to manage data, from EPA's volunteer page
National Environmental Monitoring Index provides a mechanism to compare and contrast the performance and relative cost of analytical, test, and sampling methods for environmental monitoring
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring National Facilitation Project lists facilitation project contact information for Cooperative Extension sponsored volunteer water quality monitoring programs across the nation, information about upcoming events of interest to volunteer monitoring groups, and links to Cooperative Extension 406 Regional websites, other national facilitation project websites, as well as national water quality websites
The Volunteer Monitor is a national newsletter for volunteer monitors
National Directory of Volunteer Monitoring Programs lists volunteer organizations around the country engaged in monitoring rivers, lakes, estuaries,beaches, wetlands, and ground water, as well as surrounding lands.
Optical Brighteners The use of Optical Brightener testing as an indicator in helping to identify: faulty septic systems, sewage exfiltration, storm drain cross-connections, and human/animal waste differentiation.

Wetlands

 

 

Bathymetric pond maps from Mass. Wildlife These maps, showing depth contours, are great for finding deep spots when you are determining sampling sites.
Color orthophotos are available from MassGIS. You can view them online or download themto your computer (a viewer such as MrSID is also available for free download at this site).
Earth Science Information Office, how to find various types of maps and other cartographic information, including aerial photographs and space images available from federal, state, and local governmental agencies, and from private sources.
Software for Bathymetric Maps computer program to make a map of the bottom topography of your lake
Northeastern Climate Summaries monthly temperature and precipitation summaries, useful for interpreting your data find out today's forecast in your town
Massachusetts Forecasts find out today's forecast in your town.

 

Nonpoint Source Pollution Information: EPA's Office of Water site NPS documentation on Agriculture, Forestry, Urban, Marinas/Boating, Hydromodification/Habitat Alteration,Wetland/Riparian Management
Some Important Chemical Indicators Hach site that lists common water quality parameters (alkalinity, ammonia, carbon dioxide, chlorine, nitrates and nitrites, dissolved oxygen, pH, phosphates, temperature and turbidity) important in drinking water, wastewater, and natural water. Many parameter listings include descriptions of the effects of analyte levels on living organisms.
List of Massachusetts Certified Laboratories Certified by MA DEP (an Adobe Acrobat file)

updated 8/8/06 by MF Walk - MWWP Home - Contact MassWWP
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