(ABC 6 News) – It’s been over a year since the Minnesota Department of Health adopted new guidelines to address nitrate contamination in water in the southeast part of the state, and progress is slow.

RELATED: EPA tells MN agencies to act on water contamination

A well testing clinic held by the Minnesota Well Owners Organization (MNWOO) in Spring Grove back in March found out of 99 wells tested, one in five had unsafe levels of nitrate contamination, which co-founder of MNWOO, Paul Wotzka, says is 10 milligrams per liter.

“You’ve gotta take private well owners where you find them, you know, they, every private well is different, everybody’s got their own questions,” said Wotzka. “We do consultations in addition to free screening, and that approach has not been adopted by the Department of Health, and consequently, you know, they’re just asking people to come to them.”

Even if you’re not a well owner, you can still help make sure the water in your community is safe.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is seeking volunteers to measure water clarity in several lakes and streams across southeast Minnesota.

“Taking the water clarity gives us a really good overall view of how the water body is doing,” said Waverly Reibel, MPCA’s Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program Coordinator. “The clarity can show us how much sunlight’s penetrating into the water, which can signify the amount of algea or sediment in the water.”

Reibel says measuring the clarity of water over time can show how its quality is changing.

The MPCA gives all volunteers the equipment and training they need for testing.

“Our volunteers they conduct water clarity tests at least twice a month in the summer months at the same site location,” said Reibel.

In Rochester, the south fork of the Zumbro River, which feeds into Silver Lake and Bear Creek, is considered a high-priority site for testing.

“A lot of times, water clarity can tell us a lot about water recreation suitability,” said Reibel. “Whether you go swimming in the water, or you go kayaking in the water, or whether you wouldn’t do either of those things.”

You can sign up to be a water monitoring volunteer here.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is also creating an Advisory Task Force on the Future of Minnesota’s Water.

The task force is seeking three experts or advocates for each of the following criteria:

• Water conservation
• Farming and agriculture
• Water quality
• Tribal issues
• County environmentalists/regulators (must be from different counties and at least one from Greater Minnesota)

You can apply for one of those 15 spots here. The deadline to apply is April 30.