The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) and the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) are pleased to announce that seven organizations have been chosen to receive volunteer water quality monitoring grants (three full grants and four start-up grants) to be awarded under the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) Program.

The MiCorps Program was established by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm to involve and assist the state's volunteer water quality organizations with water quality assessments, protection, and stewardship of Michigan's lakes and rivers. These volunteer dependent monitoring groups further expand the existing network of committed citizens who are working hard to monitor water quality in Michigan.

The seven organizations sharing nearly $50,000 in grant funds to support their volunteer monitoring work beginning in 2010 are:

Full Grants:

• Michigan Trout Unlimited - $17,562 to monitor 14 sites in the Kalamazoo, Rogue, Au Sable, and Pilgrim Rivers watersheds.

• Branch County Conservation District - $15,403.81 to monitor 10 sites in the Hodunk-Messenger Chain of Lakes watershed, a subwatershed to the Coldwater River.

• Flint River Watershed Coalition - $10,111.55 to expand their current monitoring program in the Flint River watershed to include new monitoring sites.

Follow up:

Start-Up Grants:

• Muskegon River Watershed Assembly - $3,000 to design a monitoring strategy for the Hersey River watershed.

•  Gogebic Conservation District - $2,000 to design a monitoring strategy for the Black River, a tributary to the Presque Isle River.

• Cannon Township (Kent County) - $1,054.25 to design a monitoring strategy for Bear Creek, a tributary to the Grand River.

•  Midland Conservation District - $866.37 to design a monitoring strategy for Sturgeon Creek, a tributary to the Tittabawassee River.

The grants, awarded through the DNRE's MiCorps Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program, provide training and support for volunteers to help them collect quality data on the state's water resources. The data are used to support local activities and the DNRE's efforts to protect and manage the state's water resources.

The DNRE (formly the Department of Environmental Quality) established the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program in 1998 and contracted with the GLC to administer it as part of MiCorps in the fall of 2004.

For additional information, visit the MiCorps Web site at www.micorps.net or contact Dr. Paul Steen of the Huron River Watershed Council at 734-769-5123 or by e-mail at psteen@hrwc.org.