Pierce Conservation District sunsets monitoring programs

Pierce Conservation District announcement.

We want to thank our Pierce Conservation District (PCD) Stream Team and Lake monitors for their commitment to water quality monitoring and being the “eyes and ears of our watersheds.” More than 2,000 of you have participated in either stream or lake monitoring.

We will be sunsetting these programs due to staff changes and need for program support for our jurisdictional partners. Stream Team and the Lake Monitoring Programs will transition to more assistance for Green Stormwater and Habitat Stewardship programming in our communities.

The Stream Team Program will close June 17. No more stream kits will be checked out past that date and remaining kits will be collected by PCD staff.

The Lake Monitoring Program will continue through the end of the 2022 monitoring season (October/November). We would appreciate if you still collected data and samples through the end of the season. Lake kits will be collected at the end of the season like normal.

Reports for both programs will still be completed at the end of the year with data collected and distributed to monitors and jurisdictional partners.

If you would still like to participate in similar volunteer opportunities, here are some options:

• PCD Habitat Stewardship Program
• Harbor WildWatch
• Communities for a Healthy Bay
• Tahoma Audubon Society

We will also hold a virtual meeting on Tuesday, June 28 from 6-7 pm to discuss the closure of the Monitoring Programs and other volunteer engagement opportunities. Zoom link for the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84464970192.

We know this news is unexpected and we’ll miss exploring the streams and lakes of Pierce County with you. Know that we value each one of your monitoring efforts. We hope your next volunteer opportunity is equally engaging.