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Cook
Inletkeeper
Citizens Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP)
In 1996, Cook Inletkeeper
developed Alaska’s first agency-approved volunteer water quality
monitoring program - the Citizens Environmental Monitoring
Program (CEMP) – to actively involve citizen volunteers in the
collection and distribution of important habitat and water
quality data. This
program has been held up as a model by the State & federal
resource managers, and has spawned monitoring by other
organizations, Tribal groups, and agencies throughout the
watershed, creating the most consistent, coordinated, credible,
and cost-effective citizen monitoring program in Alaska.
The objectives of Cook
Inletkeeper’s Citizens’ Environmental Monitoring Program are to:
-
inventory baseline water quality in the waters of Cook Inlet
basin;
- detect
and report significant changes and track water quality trends;
- raise
public awareness of the importance of water quality through
hands-on involvement.
To promote
these objectives, Cook Inletkeeper trains volunteers to collect
water quality data for selected parameters that will enhance
understanding of overall environmental health and testing
methods that have proven successful in citizen-based programs
throughout the United States.
Water
quality information collected by citizens is managed and
analyzed in a relational database, and Inletkeeper produces
annual water quality reports, which analyze all
citizen-collected data in the Kachemak Bay and Anchor River
watersheds.
For more
information on how to join as a volunteer, contact Rachel Lord at 907.235.4068 ext.
29 or
rachel@inletkeeper.org.
Volunteer training is held
twice a year in the spring and fall. To find out the next
training scheduled see our online
calendar.
CEMP Newsletter
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