2026 Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program Expansion

The Coordinated Volunteer Monitoring Program, now in its tenth year, is an opportunity for community members to participate in ambient water quality monitoring surveys in their local waterways. Volunteers from community groups can collect data to better understand their environment and address local water quality issues of concern. The main focus of testing in these areas is pathogen indicators, primarily enterococcus and fecal coliform, which at high levels may indicate sites with water quality issues that need further attention. The 2026 sampling season has brought some exciting changes to this program, including new sites, new analyses, and a new group!

Beginning in 2026, the program is expanding to include one new group, Prospect Swims. This group is conducting sampling at 6 to 8 sites throughout Prospect Park Lake. The group begins sampling at Fallkill Falls and follows the path of the lake around Prospect Park, ending at the Rowing Launch Ramp with sites throughout. IEC’s laboratory is contributing with Enterococcus, Escherichia Coli, and Total Coliform testing, as well as IEC’s newest parameter, total microcystins. IEC received NELAP accreditation for total microcystins early this year and Prospect Swims is the first group to collect data using this analysis. Prospect Swims’ goal for this data is determining whether Prospect Park Lake has the potential to support swimming in the future.

As water quality issues may change over time and more data are produced, two groups- Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Hackensack Riverkeeper- have replaced some sites along their route to address new concerns or interests within the Raritan and Hackensack Rivers, respectively. IEC’s volunteer monitoring program is an ongoing, consistent effort allowing volunteers to contribute to the management of water quality issues affecting their local communities and environments. The ability to be adaptable to changing conditions and concerns is important for community groups to gain a better picture of their waterways.

Finally, coordination of Billion Oyster Project’s Community Water Quality Testing sites has been taken over by a new group called SWIM Coalition. SWIM Coalition hopes to use the results of this monitoring to support the Clean Water Act’s goals for swimmable and fishable waters around New York City. They provide resources to member organizations and the general public to help protect and improve clean water resources in NYC. SWIM will be overseeing and organizing the network of groups that were previously overseen by CWQT and coordinating with the laboratories in the network, including IEC. All volunteers that wanted to continue testing were able to do so. Currently, IEC has continued testing samples collected at Bush Terminal, Prospect Park Lake, and Coney Island Creek and added testing for three new sites at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brighton Beach, and Sponge Park.

After ten years of monitoring throughout the tri-state area, the Coordinated Volunteer Monitoring Program continues to grow and adapt. The ability of community members to take an active role in the preservation and restoration of their local waterbodies while producing high-quality data allows the scope of water quality testing to expand to more areas that matter to those that live in them. 
 

Read more about the program here.