Inland Water Monitoring

Aquatic Life Impacts of Phosphorus Research

The CT DEEP Monitoring Group is engaged in several efforts to study the effects of phosphorus in water bodies. This webpage provides information on the monitoring efforts, results and analysis conducted by the Monitoring Program. These efforts include recommendations by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering report ‘Methods to Measure Phosphorus and Make Future Projections’ developed as part of Public Act 12-155, An Act Concerning Phosphorus Reductions in State Waters.

Riffle Bioassessment by Volunteers (RBV) Program

The Riffle Bioassessment by Volunteers program (RBV) is a statewide volunteer water quality monitoring program coordinated by the CT DEEP Bureau of Water Protection & Land Reuse. Each fall RBV volunteers participate in a ‘treasure hunt’ to find Connecticut’s healthiest streams. To accomplish this, RBV volunteers are trained to collect ‘macroinvertebrates,’ or ‘river bugs' from their local rivers and streams. Depending on the types of macroinvertebrates that volunteers find in a stream, the CT DEEP can assess it as a healthy stream.

Connecticut Lake Watch

Connecticut Lake Watch is a community-based science project of the DEEP Volunteer Water Monitoring Program. Volunteers are trained to monitor the water quality of local lakes and ponds across Connecticut.

Ambient Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring

The DEEP Water Monitoring Group has used benthic macroinvertebrate communities to help characterize stream and river water quality since the mid-1970s. Benthic macroinvertebrates are animals without backbones, who inhabit the bottom of rivers and streams, as well as many other waterbody types. These organisms are very well studied and have a long history of use as indicators of water quality. Certain types, including mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, can survive only in the cleanest water quality conditions. Other major groups of macroinvertebrates are true flies, beetles, worms, crustaceans, and dragonflies.

Cold Water Stream Habitat Map

2019 CT Volunteer Water Monitoring Conference

The 2019 Volunteer Water Monitoring Conference was held on April 5, 2019 at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT. The conference was organized by the CT DEEP in collaboration with partners, and marked the 20 year anniversary of the DEEP Volunteer Water Monitoring Program. The event featured five concurrent oral presentation sessions and workshops as well as a student poster session. More than 100 volunteer water monitoring groups from across Connecticut were represented.

2014 Volunteer Water Monitoring Conference

The 2014 Volunteer Water Monitoring Conference was held on July 25, 2014 at Goodwin College in East Hartford, CT. The conference was the first such conference to be organized by the CT DEEP to celebrate volunteer water monitoring in Connecticut. More than 100 individuals attended representing individual volunteers (citizen scientists), watershed group leaders, municipal commissioners, college and university professors, state and federal scientists, students, and representatives from the environmental consulting industry. In total more than 40 volunteer monitoring groups were represented at the conference!