Red Flag Monitoring

Home Monitoring Partnerships Red Flag Monitoring

Red Flag Monitoring

The Red Flag Monitoring began in 2010 with the Cayuta-Catatonk Water Watch volunteer group.

The goal of this type of monitoring partnership is to establish baseline water quality for parameters related to shale gas wells, specifically hydrofracking; and should hydrofracking begin in New York, to document whether impacts on streams and lakes occur as a result.

Red Flag monitoring places a focus on small streams and creeks for which little to no water quality data exists. Red Flag monitoring has the potential to document both catastrophic contamination events such as chemical spills and gradual degradation that could result from small impacts accumulating over a period of months or years.

A Red Flag volunteer collects a sample using a bucket.

Consistent long-term data collection builds robust datasets that are invaluable to scientists, policy makers, and members of the general public. Learn how data collected by Red Flag Volunteers has informed our understanding of water quality in central New York by checking out the presentation from CSI’s 2018 Red Flag Symposium.

What do Red Flag Monitoring volunteers do and how often do they do it?

Red Flag volunteer groups are organized into teams of 2-6 people. Teams monitor fixed locations by collecting samples and performing on-site field measurements. Volunteers must meet a series of quality control requirements including calibrating their equipment, performing duplicate tests, and submitting samples to the CSI lab on a regular basis to ensure accuracy and precision. Volunteers record results and quality control measures on field data sheets and send hard copies to the CSI lab for review. Results that meet quality control requirements are entered into the CSI database.

Ideally, Red Flag teams monitor a fixed set of locations once per month and choose their own dates for monitoring. The time commitment involved is 3-4 hours per month depending on the number of sites and team members.

Volunteers also collect nutrient samples quarterly that are tested for total phosphorus, nitrate+-nitrite nitrogen, and ammonia at CSI’s lab.

Red Flag volunteers test for pH using a field kit.

A Red Flag volunteer collects a sample from a frigid stream.

What are Red Flag volunteers monitoring for?

A handheld meter is used to measure conductivity.

A Red Flag volunteer completes the titration to measure total hardness.

Red Flag volunteers test for five parameters: Temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity and Total Hardness. Conductivity and Total Hardness are specifically geared towards picking up impacts from shale gas waste. Conductivity is a measure of water’s ability to conduct electricity and is an excellent indicator for brine waste. Total Hardness is a measure of metals dissolved in water, primarily calcium and magnesium, which are found in extremely high concentrations in flowback fluids from “hydrofracking” operations. pH, Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature are more general water quality parameters that can be affected by a variety of impacts, including shale gas waste.

Volunteers also collect nutrient samples that are tested for total phosphorus, nitrate+-nitrite nitrogen, and ammonia by analysts at CSI’s lab.

Where are Red Flag volunteers currently monitoring?

Currently, CSI’s “Red Flag” volunteer partnerships are monitoring in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, the Alleghany River Basin, Mohawk River Watershed, Cayuga Lake Watershed, and the Oswego River watershed. Data from over 100 sites covering 12 New York counties can be found in our database. To view site locations see the map below or visit our database and select the red icons.

Where it all began:

“Cayuta-Catatonk Water Watch (CCWW)”

The Cayuta-Catatonk Water Watch began as the pilot program for Red Flag monitoring and has been monitoring since 2010. CCWW volunteer group monitors the Cayuta and Catatonk Creeks and their tributaries.

If you’re interested in becoming a Red Flag Monitor, contact Grace Haynes, Outreach Coordinator, at aghaynes@communityscience.org

Cayuga_Catatonk_Waterwatch_Red_Flag_Sites

Finger_Lakes_Region_Community_Science_Institute_Claire_Weston

Red Flag Monitoring