§ 17-0305. Establishment of a program to monitor water quality by

private citizens under the direction of the department.

1. The commissioner shall establish a program which shall be known as
the "citizens statewide lake assessment program". The purpose of this
program is to establish a network of volunteers belonging to lake
associations throughout the state to monitor the condition of their
respective lakes under the guidance and direction of the department.
The volunteers, designated by the commission, will sample the assigned
lakes on a weekly basis between May and September. Water quality
information will be obtained by measuring water transparency and taking
samples for water chemistry. Samples shall be processed by the
volunteers and forwarded to a contract chemistry laboratory for
analysis.

2. The commissioner shall establish and fill a new permanent position
of program coordinator for the monitoring program within the division of
water.

3. The commissioner shall establish a training program for the purpose
of providing the volunteers with the skills necessary to accomplish
their monitoring tasks. Quality control checks will be carried out on a
regular basis by the program coordinator, and through the lake
classification and inventory survey.

4. The commissioner will provide the volunteers with all of the
equipment and materials necessary to accomplish the monitoring.

5. Chemistry parameters shall include, but are not limited to, tests
for total phosphorus, nitrate, color and chlorophyll. Additional survey
data shall include, but not be limited to, aquatic vegetation surveys,
angler surveys and questionnaires/surveys for water users concerning
problems, issues and use impairment.

6. The program coordinator shall prepare an annual report which will
include a summary of the information collected on the monitored waters
during the previous season. This information shall be distributed to the
program participants and other interested parties.