Managing a Citizen 

 Monitoring Program 



Role of Citizen 

 Monitoring in CCMPs 



citizen monitoring programs has identified program elements 

 needed to maintain motivation and positive feedback. Disseminat- 

 ing information about tfieir efforts was found to be a key element in 

 motivating volunteers to participate effectively in a study of tfiis 

 type. The volunteers collecting the data are interested in knowing 

 the data they collect are useful to decision makers or regulatory 

 agencies. A newsletter may be helpful in achieving this goal. 

 Program publicity acknowledging volunteer efforts is also a source 

 of motivation for the volunteers. It was also found that periodic 

 meetings among volunteer monitoring organizations for comparing 

 notes and ideas help to maintain interest in a project. In addition, 

 responsibility for coordinating some parts of the citizen monitoring 

 program should be delegated to volunteers in order to encourage 

 interest. Both interesting and tedious tasks should be rotated so 

 that each volunteer can participate in all aspects of the program. 

 An awards banquet can also be held to show the volunteers that 

 their efforts are appreciated. 



Once the purpose of a citizen monitoring program is established, 

 key personnel must be selected. These personnel may include a 

 program coordinator, volunteer technical advisors, and someone 

 to manage and analyze the data. The coordinator of the citizen 

 monitoring program is responsible for recruiting volunteers, estab- 

 lishing quality-control procedures, maintaining program files, and 

 running the citizen monitoring program. The role of the data 

 manager/analyst includes the maintenance of computer files and 

 the development of report results. The citizen monitoring program 

 can use the same data management system used by the Manage- 

 ment Conference. This will allow the data generated by the citizen 

 volunteers to be available to anyone interested in the estuary or the 

 citizen monitoring program. 



Recruiting volunteers is an on-going process. Throughout the 

 duration of the project, the list of volunteers will change. Motivated 

 volunteers will remain with the project and perhaps bring in new 

 recruits. The coordinator should develop a system for evaluating 

 the project so that volunteers can provide input that will strengthen 

 the project. 



To augment already existing estuary monitoring programs, there 

 are five major areas in which citizen volunteers can help (1) 

 collecting data to characterize water resources; (2) collecting data 

 to assist in planning and policy development; (3) functioning as 

 "watch dogs" for enforcement and assisting in the implementation 

 of regulations; (4) educating the public and promoting public aware- 

 ness of environmental issues; and (5) collecting data for special 

 research projects designed to address specific problems. A survey 

 of existing citizen monitoring programs reveals a variety of data 

 collection methodologies and objectives. Figure F.1 presents some 

 parameters and sampling methods used by several volunteer 

 monitoring programs and shows how these data assist decision 

 makers. (Information describing these programs and others is 

 available in EPA's Directory of National Citizen Volunteer Environ- 

 mental Monitoring Programs and may be obtained from OMEP.) 



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