Overview

The Pennsylvania Coldwater Conservation

Corps and West Virginia-Virginia Water
Quality Monitoring Project are a network of
angler scientists who conduct routine
inspections of stream conditions near active
or planned shale gas development and report
problems to the appropriate agencies. The
programs teach volunteers what to look for,
what type of information to record, how to
collect water quality data, and whom to
contact if a pollution event is found. Through
education and action, we can accrue a body of
baseline data and achieve early detection of
problems, ensuring that coldwater streams
are protected as shale gas resources are
developed.

The Motivation
Unconventional shale gas wells are
created using hydraulic fracturing
methods, or fracking, and have been
associated with aquatic resource
impacts ranging from sedimentation due
to road and pipeline construction, flow
impairments from water withdrawals,
and water quality issues related to
transportation and disposal of chemicals
and effluents. The volunteers provide an
extra set of eyes to help state agencies
and industry minimize potential impacts
to coldwater streams and their fisheries.

Backed by Science
Trout Unlimiteds Science Program has
identified priority watersheds for
monitoring using its GIS tool, the
Conservation Success Index. These
locations, shared as web-enabled maps,
help focus water quality monitoring to
the critical coldwater habitats and brook
trout streams where impacts are most
likely, both now and in the future.

Training, Partnership, and Outreach

Monitoring protocols developed
with Dickinson Colleges Alliance for
Aquatic Resources Monitoring
(ALLARM)
Partners include West Virginia
Rivers Coalition
Day-long training workshops are
held on a regular basis and provide
field manual and monitoring kits
Online training resources available
on YouTube
One full-time Trout Unlimited staff
member serves as coordinator; bimonthly phone calls enable
volunteers to discuss efforts and
challenges
All training efforts ensure bestpractices by volunteers and QA/QC
of data collected
Water quality variables of interest
include conductivity, pH, turbidity,
water temperature, cross-sectional
area or stage, and alkaline earth
metals (Ba, Sr)
Visual assessment of access roads,
receiving streams at active
development
Water quality observations and training documents are managed on a CitSci.org
project site

Successes
In Pennsylvania: 201 active sites on 160 streams, 100 active volunteers, and over
4,300 sampling trips since 2010
In West Virginia and Virginia: 136 active sites on 118 streams, 64 active
volunteers, over 600 sampling trips since 2013.
Several pollution events identified, reported, and remedied
Increased awareness of stream baseline condition, water quality parameters,
and sources of pollution.
Connections created between volunteers and their home waters

Opportunities
Pilot program of volunteer-managed data
loggers motivated by:
Rarity of pollution events. Data
loggers offer the opportunity to
complement ongoing efforts by
monitoring continuously, increasing
the odds of catching infrequent
pollution events, but require some
technical expertise and more
expensive equipment
Logistics. Many of the best coldwater
resources are in remote locations and
present logistical challenges to regular
monitoring; to date most of the
monitoring effort occurs close to
volunteers homes.

Jake Lemon
Kurt Fesenmyer
Eastern Shale Gas
Conservation Planner
Monitoring Coordinator kfesenmyer@tu.org
jlemon@tu.org