A common thread of interest for many watershed coordinators,
community group leaders, and local citizens focused on Ohio’s
valuable water resources concerns is water quality monitoring.
Enabling the public to collect data and have easy access to
data on their local rivers and streams is important to the
process of crafting water quality policy and stream clean-up
priorities.
Develop
a Water Quality Monitoring Plan
Before you or your watershed group
conducts water quality monitoring in your local river, creek
or stream, it is important to first develop a plan. Read the
OEC Fact Sheet, “How
to Develop a Water Quality Monitoring Plan.” (PDF)
Watershed
Watchdogs: Reporting Pollution Spills & Fish Kills
Citizen monitoring is critical to protecting Ohio’s
water resources. Citizens are encouraged to immediately report
pollution spills, fish kills and other sources of water pollution
early, quickly and thoroughly. Information gathered can be
utilized to alert state and local agencies of the need for
emergency response, enforcement actions, permit requirements
or additional inspections to prevent contamination of Ohio’s
lakes, rivers and streams. Read the OEC Fact Sheet on reporting
Pollution Spills & Fish Kills. (PDF)
Verified
Complaints
If you feel your pollution complaint fails to gain adequate
regulatory attention, or if you feel the severity of the pollution
requires a more structured complaint, citizens and watershed
groups should consider filing what is called a verified complaint.
These type of formal complaints are typically notarized and
involve specific steps. Read the OEC Fact Sheet on Verified Complaints.(PDF)
OEC
Guide on Formal Complaints
to Ohio EPA
Ohio law provides for a formal complaint process to the Ohio
EPA. We wanted to make sure that citizens had a handy guide,
so we created the How to File a Verified Complaint (PDF) fact sheet.
