Community Monitoring Spotlight

Over 20 years of monitoring in Centre County, PA

The Centre County Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps at ClearWater Conservancy (CCPaSEC) began monitoring streams in April 2002. The group had support from the Centre County Conservation District. Additionally, they partnered with numerous organizations including, watershed associations, and academic institutions. CCPaSEC volunteer scientist teams have monitored a total of over 45 sites on 30 streams in the county. Regular testing includes biannual benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and monthly chemical parameters such as pH, nitrates, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, sulfates, and specific conductance.

In late 2020, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College, began working with CCPaSEC to integrate their robust dataset into the Chesapeake Data Explorer. The group’s methodology evolved with the monitoring field over their 20-year history. ALLARM examined methods manuals, quality control practices, and equipment from each period of time to ensure it was assigned to the proper tier level. We are excited to integrate all CCPaSEC water quality data from 2002-2020 into the Chesapeake Data Explorer (CDE). Furthermore, CCPaSEC utilized ALLARM’s benthic macroinvertebrate methods manual for biological monitoring. This allowed ALLARM to integrate biological data from 2002-2021.

ALLARM is excited to continue working with CCPaSEC to integrate and increase data availability in Centre County! Thank you for the group’s continued work in water quality monitoring.

Check out all the CCPaSEC data points below! To learn more about the Centre County Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps visit: https://www.ccpasec.org/.