Citizen Science in Action
LagoonWatch is MRC’s signature citizen scientist water quality monitoring program for the Indian River Lagoon. For more than 30 years we have trained and equipped hundreds of volunteer monitors to collect weekly data on a dozen water quality parameters (including pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen levels) of the lagoon’s waters. Monitoring locations cover the entire expanse of the lagoon from New Smyrna Beach in the north to Jupiter Inlet in the south.
We held a LagoonWatch Open House on January 14, 2023 to introduce the greater public to the LagoonWatch Program and to recruit new volunteer monitors.
Click the photo below to view the PowerPoint presentation from the Open House.
We continue to look for new monitors and new locations at which to monitor. Please contact us if you would like to help us better understand the complexities of the Indian River Lagoon.
Click here for a complete LagoonWatch project description.
Water Quality Monitors
Please submit monthly QA data to the LagoonWatch Coordinator, Kara@mrcirl.org
Active LagoonWatch Sites Map
The following Google map shows our current monitoring locations. Our long term goal is to have monitors at regular intervals along the eastern and western shorelines of both the Indian and Banana Rivers.
LagoonWatch Water Quality Data
Click a monthly report to download a data file that can be viewed in Microsoft Excel® or other spreadsheet program.
To obtain copies of the historic (1991–2017) LagoonWatch data, please contact the LagoonWatch Coordinator at kara@mrcirl.org.
Collaborating with Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force
MRC is working with the Space Coast chapter of Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force to test local waters for enterobacteria, an indicator used by the State of Florida to assess the health of recreational waters.
Samples are collected twice monthly and the results are currently being reported on the Blue Water Task Force’s website. Follow this link to see the locations being monitored and the results: bwtf.surfrider.org/.
Thank You to Our Partner
Special thanks to Blue Siren, Inc., developer of portable and in-situ environmental monitoring systems worldwide. Blue Siren donated and hosts their online ZiScape™ data reporting program used by our LagoonWatch monitors to add to the longest running and largest citizen scientist database on the water quality of the Indian River Lagoon.