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09i15/2001 14:45 FAX 6514528940 MENDOTA HGTS MN Q001 Post-it"Fax Note 7671 Date 3 page$ Dakota County(MN)wetland Assessment, • T°�pyy� as�.. From Monitoring, and Awareness Project, co✓ apt_ `r'` �5 Revision 4,June 5, 1998 Phone 11 �� - - Page 6 of 50 Phone Fax M 3 3 F- 9uestious to be answered: The Dakota County Weiland Health Evaluation Project(WHEP) is designed to see if multiple teams of volunteer citizen investigators can gather data on wetland health using established protocols that are comparable to the data gathered by experienced wetland scientists using the same protocols. Results obtained by citizens using the Minnesota Citizen Wetland Survey protocol, "citizen protocol," will be compared with results obtained by technical wetland professionals using both the citizen protocol and the more Technical Biotic Evaluation of Wetlands. Local govern=ents will then determine which approach and under which circumstance the protocols can best be used to meet the various needs of local units of government. Approximately one hundred citizen volunteers will participate on a total of nine monitoring teams. Teams range in number from six to fifteen people,plus a team leader and city contact for each team. Thirty-two wetlands will be sampled by citizen volunteers and technical experts during the project. Each of the nine teams will sample four wetlands for this project. The WHEP will build on a previously US EPA funded project to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,the Wetland Testing Assessment Project#CD985060-01. That project was • designed to identify what information obtained by trained citizen volunteers gathering biological (invertebrates and vegetation) data about wetland health would be useful to local units of government when making decisions and raising consciousness about wetlands. The WHEP will use citizen and technical wetland assessment protocols developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (NI:PCA). Identification of invertebrates will be made to the family level depending on the taxonomic group and the particular metric. In some cases, genus will be used_, and in some,order. The project also includes public outreach components designed to increase public awareness of wetlands, but these elements are not part of the QAPP. Sites, Processes, and operating Parameters: Thirty-six depressional wetland sites were selected by cities and the Minnesota Zoo, with assistance from the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District_ A variety of sites were selected, including reference wetlands and wetlands impacted to varying degrees by various land use activities_ Reference sites are examples of the highest quality wetlands in a community. The other sites may be impacted by urban activities (stormwater systems, runoff from housing and commercial areas) or agricultural activities. Anticipated uses of the data: The intent of the WHEP is to establish an assessment methodology using citizen volunteers that will be useful to local governments for monitoring wetland health, providing assessment information for wetland management, and implementing environmentally sound land use practices. The WHEP will establish a baseline assessmeni for the wetlands included in the project. Cities will determine how the use of citizen volunteers to collect biological data on wetlands can be of value in planning and implementing city goals and . projects. Cities will determine whether a more technical level assessment might be needed under certain circumstances. Cities will also determine the value of the program as an educational effort to raise the level of knowledge, as well as to change attitudes and behaviors in such a way as to improve local wetland protection.