Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Water Quality Coordinator

🎯 Role Definition

The Water Quality Coordinator is responsible for planning, executing, and managing water quality monitoring programs across municipal, watershed, or utility projects. Acting as the technical lead for sampling campaigns, laboratory relationships, data QA/QC, and regulatory reporting, this role ensures monitoring programs meet federal, state, and local permitting and funding requirements. The Coordinator partners with engineering, regulatory, and community stakeholders to translate monitoring results into actionable recommendations for compliance, treatment, and watershed management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Environmental Technician / Field Technician (water monitoring)
Laboratory Technician (water chemistry)
Water Resources Assistant or Stormwater Inspector

Advancement To:

Senior Water Quality Specialist / Senior Environmental Scientist
Water Quality Manager / Program Manager
Watershed or Stormwater Program Director

Lateral Moves:

Stormwater Coordinator or Stormwater Program Manager
Watershed & Habitat Restoration Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, implement and manage comprehensive water quality monitoring programs — including design of sampling networks, selection of monitoring locations, frequency schedules, parameter lists, and chain-of-custody procedures — to meet project goals, permit requirements (NPDES, MS4), and funding agency deliverables.
Prepare and maintain Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and field sampling protocols to ensure consistency, defensibility and regulatory acceptance of monitoring activities.
Lead field sampling operations: coordinate and supervise field crews, perform or verify collection of grab and composite samples, in-situ measurements (pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity), flow measurements, and specialized sampling (HABs, toxins, nutrients, metals, pathogens).
Manage relationships with contract and commercial laboratories, including scheduling, method selection (EPA-approved or state methods), sample preservation and holding times, and oversight of analytical method performance and turnaround times.
Perform rigorous QA/QC and data validation processes: review laboratory reports, flag and document qualified data, perform blanks/duplicates analyses, apply detection limit handling, and maintain audit trails for regulatory submittals.
Compile, process and synthesize complex water quality datasets using spreadsheet tools and statistical software (R, Python, Excel), producing summary statistics, trend analyses, load calculations, and interpretive memos that support permitting, planning and remediation decisions.
Prepare regulatory and compliance reports including NPDES permit monitoring reports, MS4 annual reports, state water quality reports, and responses to regulatory agency data requests, ensuring accuracy and timely submittal.
Monitor and interpret federal and state water quality regulations, criteria and guidance (Clean Water Act, state-specific water quality standards) to ensure monitoring and reporting activities remain compliant and defensible.
Coordinate and conduct bioassessment and habitat surveys, work with benthic macroinvertebrate or fish tissue sampling protocols as required, and integrate biological indicators into overall watershed condition assessments.
Lead contaminant incident response and investigative monitoring (SSOs, spills, illicit discharges), deploy field testing kits, organize emergency sampling teams, document findings, and liaise with public health and regulatory agencies.
Oversee sample logistics, sample chain-of-custody, custody documentation, shipping, and inventory of sampling supplies and consumables to ensure integrity and traceability of monitoring data.
Design and manage stormwater and source water monitoring projects including wet/dry weather sampling, outfall screening, BMP effectiveness monitoring, and storm event-based sampling strategies.
Maintain, calibrate and troubleshoot field instrumentation (multiprobes, flow meters, autosamplers, sondes), schedule preventative maintenance, and ensure calibration records and instrument QC checks are kept current.
Develop and maintain GIS datasets and spatial analyses to visualize sampling locations, watershed boundaries, land use impacts, pollutant source mapping, and to support decision-making and public communication.
Prepare clear, technically accurate deliverables: monitoring plans, technical memoranda, regulatory reports, presentations, maps, and public-facing summaries that communicate water quality status and recommendations.
Manage project budgets, contracts and procurement for monitoring activities, track expenditures, prepare scopes of work for consultants, and ensure projects remain on schedule and within budget.
Provide training and supervision for field staff, interns, and contractors on safe sampling practices, SOPs, H&S and confined space procedures, personal protective equipment (PPE) use, and quality assurance protocols.
Support permitting and planning processes by translating monitoring data into actionable permit conditions, TMDL planning support, load reduction estimates, and BMP recommendations for permitting and capital projects.
Coordinate community outreach, stakeholder engagement, and interagency coordination: plan public meetings, present results to municipal councils, watershed groups, and regulatory partners, and respond to public inquiries about water quality issues.
Conduct grant writing and funding coordination efforts to secure monitoring program support and capital for equipment or studies; prepare scopes, budgets, and performance measures for grant applications and reports.
Maintain laboratory information management system (LIMS) or databases for monitoring data storage, metadata, and facilitate data exports for regulatory uploads or GIS integration.
Apply statistical and trend analysis techniques (time series, load estimation, trend detection) to identify long-term changes, hotspots, and to prioritize management actions.
Ensure workplace safety and environmental compliance during field operations by enforcing site safety plans, HAZWOPER or other relevant certifications, and documenting safety procedures and incident logs.
Develop and implement continuous improvement initiatives to optimize sampling efficiency, data quality, and cost-effectiveness of monitoring programs.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc water quality data requests, exploratory analyses, and rapid-turnaround summaries for internal staff, elected officials, and the public.
Contribute to the organization’s environmental data strategy, metadata standards, and data governance practices to improve reproducibility and interoperability.
Collaborate with engineering, operations, and planning teams to translate monitoring findings into infrastructure improvements and operational changes.
Participate in project planning meetings, budgeting cycles, and cross-functional planning efforts to integrate monitoring needs with capital and maintenance programs.
Assist with grant administration, progress reporting, and coordination of multi-year monitoring contracts and interagency MOUs.
Serve as subject-matter representative for the organization at technical working groups, stakeholder panels, and multi-jurisdictional watershed planning efforts.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Water sampling protocols: proficiency with grab, composite, autosampler operation, and event-based sampling for stormwater and surface water monitoring.
Regulatory compliance knowledge: NPDES/MS4 permit monitoring, Clean Water Act fundamentals, state water quality standards, TMDL processes.
QA/QC and QAPP development: writing and implementing Quality Assurance Project Plans and Standard Operating Procedures.
Laboratory coordination and LIMS: selecting analytical methods, interpreting lab reports, managing sample chain-of-custody, and using laboratory information management systems.
Field instrumentation: operation, calibration and troubleshooting of multi-parameter sondes, dissolved oxygen probes, turbidity sensors, flow meters, and autosamplers.
Data analysis and statistics: experience with Excel, R, Python or similar tools for data cleaning, trend analysis, load calculations, and visualization.
GIS and spatial analysis: ArcGIS or QGIS skills for mapping sampling sites, watershed delineation, and spatial data management.
Reporting and technical writing: preparing regulatory submittals, technical memos, monitoring reports, and public-facing summaries.
Biological and chemical monitoring methods: familiarity with benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, algal/HAB monitoring, nutrient and metals analyses.
Budget and contract management: preparing scopes of work, managing consultant contracts, tracking project budgets and procurement.

Soft Skills

Strong written and verbal communication — ability to translate technical results into clear language for non-technical stakeholders.
Project management — prioritization, scheduling, and delivering multiple monitoring projects on time and within budget.
Attention to detail — meticulous documentation, QA/QC mindset, and record-keeping.
Leadership and team supervision — mentoring field staff and coordinating multidisciplinary teams.
Problem solving and critical thinking — troubleshooting field and lab issues, interpreting ambiguous data, recommending corrective actions.
Stakeholder engagement — building productive relationships with regulators, community groups, and partner agencies.
Adaptability — managing dynamic field conditions, emergency response sampling, and changing regulatory requirements.
Time management — balancing fieldwork, laboratory coordination, data analysis and reporting deadlines.
Collaboration — working across engineering, operations, planning, and external contractor teams.
Ethical judgment — maintaining data integrity, transparency, and confidentiality where required.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Hydrology, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Environmental Science, Hydrology, Environmental Engineering, or related discipline; or equivalent professional certifications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Environmental Science
Civil or Environmental Engineering
Biology, Ecology, or Aquatic Biology
Chemistry or Environmental Chemistry
Hydrology or Water Resources

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressively responsible experience in water quality monitoring, environmental compliance, or related field work.

Preferred:

5+ years with demonstrated experience designing and managing monitoring programs, interacting with regulatory agencies (NPDES/MS4), and producing regulatory-quality reports.
Prior experience supervising field teams, managing laboratory partnerships, and using GIS and statistical analysis tools.
Certifications or training such as HAZWOPER, OSHA, QAPP/QAMS, or relevant state water quality program certifications are advantageous.