Ottawa County Water Quality Monitoring Initiative

On May 14th, 2024, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved awarding the Ottawa Conservation District a $995,465 contract for a Water Quality Monitoring Initiative in collaboration with the Ottawa County Water Resource Commissioner’s office. Through this Initiative, the Ottawa Conservation District (OCD), with the help of the ODC Network, will conduct water quality sampling, habitat surveys, and land surveys throughout all Ottawa County watersheds between 2024 – 2029. These monitoring efforts will help us better understand the concentrations, effects, and potential sources of nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants and identify priority areas for future pollutant reduction efforts. 

The overarching goal of this Initiative is to protect and improve surface and groundwater quality in Ottawa County, firstly by enhancing existing water quality monitoring data. Both the OCD and ODC Network have conducted water quality sampling and habitat surveys over the last 10+ years, but these monitoring efforts have been irregular due to inadequate funding. This has led to knowledge gaps where water quality impairments are suspected or have been observed, but no official data exists to back up claims. 

On February 18th, 2026, Ottawa Conservation District, ODC Network, and the Ottawa County Water Resources Commissioner presented about this initiative to the League of Women Voters Holland Area. Check out the presentation in the video below! Follow along with the presentation here: 2/18/26 Water Quality Monitoring Presentation Slides.

What are we monitoring?

 

  • E. coli: E. coli can come from human, livestock, and wildlife sources. Each year we will conduct 5-weeks of monitoring in select watersheds to collect water samples. These samples will then be analyzed by our partners at Grand Valley State University and Hope College where they will identify concentration levels and will conduct microbial source tracking to identify human vs. animal sources of E.coli. 

  • Nutrients, Chlorides, Sediment, & Water Chemistry: Similar to E. coli testing, we’ll conduct multiple 5-week sampling rounds to gather water samples to be tested for concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen & phosphorus), chlorides, and total suspended solids (sediments). Additionally, we’ll install a number of temporary data loggers throughout the watersheds that will continuously monitor metrics including temperature, dissolved oxygen, stream level, turbidity, nutrients, and chlorides. In Lake Macatawa, a permanent monitoring buoy will be installed that will collect year-round data on phosphorus concentrations. 

  • Biological Surveys: Biological surveys will include surveys for fish populations, macroinvertebrate populations, and assess overall stream habitat. Fish and macroinvertebrates serve as biological indicators, which give us an idea of the current water quality conditions based on which species of fish and macroinvertebrates we find. Physical habitat assessments include identifying sections of streambank erosion, amounts of riparian vegetation, and more. 

  • Road Stream Crossing Surveys: These surveys will look at the current conditions of culverts and bridges where roads are crossing over streams to better understand the levels of sediment that may or may not be entering the streams from potential erosion and to see if culverts are causing any fish habitat connection issues. We’ll identify road stream crossings where upgrades may be necessary to ensure better stream flow and habitat connectivity. 

  • Agricultural Tillage Surveys: These surveys include identifying current fall and spring tillage practices and cover crop usage on visible farm fields. This will help us better understand how many farmers may or may not already be incorporating cropping best management practices on their fields and help us identify critical areas where educational, technical, or financial resources should be targeted to help farmers voluntarily implement these practices. 

  • Lake Surveys: In addition to continuous phosphorus and water chemistry sampling on Lake Macatawa, we’ll be conducting a variety of biological surveys and water quality sampling on Spring Lake, Crockery Lake, and Little Black Lake with the ultimate goal of identifying current conditions, potential sources of NPS pollutants, and creating Lake/Watershed Management Plans that will provide recommendations for best management practice implementation to reduce pollutant loads or prevent pollutant impairments.

What will we do with this data?

 

Better understand the current conditions of our local watersheds to inform management decisions: The data collected will give us a more comprehensive understanding of current stream conditions and NPS pollutant concentrations in Ottawa County watersheds, whereas in the past we were only able to get small snapshots of water quality conditions in limited areas. This will help land managers prioritize where it makes the most sense, both environmentally and economically, to target conservation and restoration efforts.

Provide education and increase water quality engagement: We plan to create a public mapping system and/or database to highlight our findings in a summarized and digestible manner. This will allow water users to make better decisions when it comes to their health and engagement in water activities, as well as to encourage residents throughout the County to engage in water quality best management practices. Ottawa County residents have increasingly shown interest in local water quality over the last few years, and we hope that access to this data and additional educational field days and workshops for the public will help spur behavioral changes. 

Increased access to grant funding: Access to this data will improve access to local, state, and federal grant funding that will be key for best management practice implementation. The data collected will demonstrate the need for technical and financial assistance and will show potential funders that we have a plan to use money efficiently and effectivly. While some of this funding is used to sustain jobs and operational costs, a vast majority of grant funding is used to improve Ottawa County natural resources, often through providing financial assistance to Ottawa County residents and farmers through cost-share programs. 

A Final Note…

It is important to recognize that all data is a snapshot in time, especially in the case of NPS pollution. A single data point is not representative of overall water quality, but rather the conditions on that particular day, at that particular time and it’s unrealistic to pinpoint specific, individual sources of impairments. Therefore, our work focuses on identifying general targets and priority areas for outreach, education, and future BMPs. The more data points collected over time, the more we can see trends, recognize the impacts of external factors, and be able to address those issues to improve water quality. 

We will also be collaborating with as many local organizations as possible who may also be conducting their own water quality monitoring. As we learn of these organizations, we’ll be reaching out to ensure we aren’t doubling up on monitoring and figure out ways we can best work collaboratively to achieve our goals. 

The Ottawa Conservation District and ODC Network are both non-regulatory organizations who work confidentially with landowners. We encourage voluntary action and participation in programs and provide recommendations on how to meet regulatory requirements and water quality goals without fear of being reported. This Initiative is being led by a collection of local partners who have been working in the County for over a decade who want to see Ottawa County continue to lead in water quality and agriculture.

Early Analysis

  • Nearly all sites monitored had exceedances of State water quality standards for most pollutants (E.coli, sediment, chloride, nutrients)
  • Some sites had alarmingly high E.coli numbers (see maps below)
    • Microbial Source Tracking analysis is still underway
    • Sources likely vary between agricultural and human sources
  • Several sites located with high nutrient concentrations – possible contributing factors downstream
  • More data analysis to come!!
  • Click here to see what monitoring work we’ve completed so far!

To get more information on this initiative, please contact one of our Watershed Program Staff:

Ben Jordan (Watershed Programs Coordinator) at 616-842-5852 Ext. 5 or benjamin.jordan@macd.org

Sarah Bowman (Watershed & Conservation Specialist) at 616-842-5852 Ext. 5 or sarah.bowman@macd.org