The monitoring season for MMW funded groups has begun! To kick off the sampling season, MMW, MT-DEQ and MSU Extension hosted a water quality monitoring training event at the Flathead Lake Biological Station. In addition to many trainers, we had 28 trainees from water monitoring groups, conservation districts and volunteer groups throughout the state come and learn more about the importance of water monitoring and develop new skills to improve their current efforts. Training stations included instruction on sampling/measuring for water chemistry, discharge, sedimentation, macroinvertebrates, and riparian health, as well as how to calibrate, use and care for different water quality probes like YSI meters and Hydrolabs. Experts from MT-DEQ, FLBS, MSU and DNRC led each station on a nearby creek. MMW continued to provide trainings by visiting the Yaak Valley Forest Council to do a full group training and go over grab and filtered sample collection methods. The level of enthusiasm to jump into the cold creek varied from person to person, but the group was incredibly cheerful and organized about each step. But, in all fairness, they could have worn waders! We will be meeting and training more groups as the season continues to ensure each group feels confident in their abilities to take scientifically credible water quality samples.