Volunteer Opportunities
CAMP
The Metropolitan Council’s Citizen Assisted Monitoring Program, or CAMP, is an opportunity for citizens to become more aware of the lakes in their communities. Volunteers monitor their lake every other week from April through October. The process takes a maximum of two hours a session. The Commission, through CAMP, provides training and all supplies and equipment. Volunteers provide their time, a boat, and freezer space to store their water samples for short periods of time. No special skills are required other than the ability to handle a boat. Volunteers collect water samples, record water temperature and Secchi depth, and record their observations about lake appearance, odor, and suitability for recreation.
Water Resources – Macroinvertebrate Monitoring (River Watch)
In 1995 the Commission worked with the Hennepin Conservation District (HCD) to initiate a benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring program. River Watch, as this program is now called, is used both for education and data collection. It is a goal of the Commission to sustain existing monitoring sites, gain water quality data, and promote river stewardship through teaching and project participation by students. In 2003 this program came under the guidance of the Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services. Currently, students from seven schools monitor at seven locations in the Elm Creek watershed.
2010 Hennepin County River Watch Results, available from Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services, includes results from all the Hennepin County monitoring sites. Excerpts from the River Watch report on the sites in the Elm Creek watershed are found in the Commission’s Annual Report in Appendix 5.
In 2011 Kaleidoscope Charter School in Rogers participated in the River Watch program at Rush Creek site #4. Click here to view their results.
Look for Neck when Recycling Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles are the only type of plastic currently accepted in Plymouth’s recycling program. Regardless of the number imprinted on the container, if it narrows down to a neck and the contents are meant to be poured (not scooped), it is a bottle and can be recycled. If not, then it cannot be recycled. Although seemingly random – the plastic in milk bottles and cottage cheese containers are both identified as #2 – the reason is actually grounded in chemistry and economics. The plastic in the two types of containers were manufactured with different additives, underwent different processes and have different melting points. If combined, the resulting material would be contaminated and could not be economically made into a new product.
Clear Storm Drains after Snow Melts
Winter snow melt presents a special hazard to our storm drains with the accumulation of garbage and sand. Did you ever think of that storm drain in front of your home as waterfront property? Sure, the view isn’t the same, but it does connect your property to the nearest lake, river, or wetland. That’s why it’s so important to keep garbage and sand out of the storm drains. Garbage is a pollutant and sand fills up lakes and streams prematurely. If you put down salt or sand as a deicer, remember to sweep up the excess. The water – not to mention the ducks, fish and everyone else – will be healthier without it.
There are many opportunities available for citizen participation. Visit member cities websites for more information: