November 18, 2004

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester announced today the availability of volunteer stream monitoring grant funds under DEQ’s new Michigan Clean Water Corps. A total of $50,000 of Clean Michigan Initiative funding is available in Fiscal Year 2005 to support volunteer water quality monitoring efforts on Michigan’s wadeable streams and rivers. Local units of government and nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive grants from the Michigan Clean Water Corps to assist the DEQ in collecting water quality data on streams statewide. The grant application forms and instructions are available online at http://www.glc.org/micorps/gap05  . The deadline for submitting grant applications is December 1, 2004.

The Michigan Clean Water Corps was created through an executive order by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm in order to assist the DEQ in collecting and sharing water quality data for use in water resources management and protection programs. A statewide network of volunteer monitoring programs will be established to facilitate this effort, as well as provide a forum for communication and support among volunteer monitoring groups.

To assist in identifying volunteer monitoring groups for inclusion in the Michigan Clean Water Corps, an online survey of volunteer monitoring programs in Michigan is being conducted. Members of volunteer water quality monitoring programs for Michigan’s inland lakes, Great Lakes, rivers, and streams are encouraged to participate in the survey online at http://www.glc.org/micorps/survey. The deadline for completion of the online survey is December 1, 2004.

Additional information on the Michigan Clean Water Corps is available online at http://www.glc.org/micorps.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised November 18, 2004 by