LagoonWatch
CITIZENS + SCIENCE
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Keeping Tabs on the Lagoon
LagoonWatch is MRC’s signature citizen-scientist water quality monitoring program. For 35 years, we have trained and equipped volunteer monitors to regularly collect data on several different water quality parameters (water temperature, salinity, pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, water clarity, total depth, and nitrate/phosphate concentrations). Monitoring locations cover the full extent of the Indian River Lagoon from New Smyrna beach in the north to Jupiter inlet in the south.
The LagoonWatch program was updated to include digital devices for data collection in 2025. These changes brought collection methods up to acceptable scientific standards. Now, MRC publishes Monthly LagoonWatch Reports, includes monitoring data in the annual IRL Health Report, and submits data to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) via the Water Information Network (WIN) for use in state-level decision making and basin management plans. At MRC, we believe that data should drive action, and we’re committed to making sure the efforts of our volunteers contribute meaningfully to restoration, awareness, and stewardship throughout the region.
Volunteer monitors use their supplied digital probes to test for water quality parameters including temperature, salinity, pH, conductivity, and total dissolved solids. Monitors collect water from public parks and private property to run this assessment.
Monitors use a Secchi disk to measure both water clarity and total water depth at their assigned sites. The clarity measurement is taken by lowering the disk into the water until its black and white pattern is no longer distinct. Total depth is measured by allowing the disk to sink until it hits the bottom and then record that distance.
Volunteers also use Hanna Instruments Checkers to test for the presence and concentrations of nitrates and phosphates. Nutrient pollution is one of the biggest issues the IRL is facing as excessive nutrient inputs can lead to harmful algal blooms, fish kills, seagrass die-offs, and eventually the accumulation of muck pits.
MRC + Surfrider
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/.
LagoonWatch Contact
For more information about the LagoonWatch program or to receive copies of the historical dataset (1991-2017), please contact LagoonWatch Coordinator Jessica Cline at jessica@mrcirl.org.
