0202410220552

From STARDIT
Revision as of 05:53, 25 October 2024 by Jacknunn (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
WaterWatch Description: WaterWatch is a citizen science program in Victoria, Australia, focused on monitoring and improving waterway health. The initiative engages community members, schools, and volunteers in collecting water quality data, conducting surveys, and making observations about local waterways.

The program aims to increase public awareness about water quality issues, promote sustainable living practices, and contribute valuable data for scientific research and environmental management. WaterWatch collaborates with EstuaryWatch and is supported by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Since 1993, 1581 sites have been monitored by over 4,300 WaterWatch citizen scientists.
STARDIT ID: 0202410220552
Dates

State ongoing
Start 1993-01-30
Form updated 2024-10-25

Report authors
Heather McCulloch
0009-0009-0065-3654
Main report author
Jack Nunn
0000-0003-0316-3254
checking data and URLs, Checked report as part of project 'Improving Citizen Science to Benefit Society: A Discussion Paper' -https://stardit.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/020240722
Location
Victoria, Australia
Aims
Increase community awareness and understanding of water issues and catchment health
Engage citizens in monitoring local waterways and collecting credible water quality data to inform management decisions
Promote waterway stewardship and encourage community involvement in sustainable water management practices
Keywords
Waterway health
Citizen science
Water quality
Category
management/monitoring

Inputs

organisation

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (link)


Task: Managing the overall arrangement of the program
organisation

Catchment Management Authorities (link)


Task: Host Waterwatch Coordinators, and provide support and resources for local programs
group of individuals

Citizen scientists


Task: Conducting simple tests to assess the quality of local waterways, including measuring parameters such as pH, turbidity, and nutrient levels | recording and submitting water quality data using standardised record sheets, which is then entered into a public database | assessing and documenting the condition of habitats surrounding waterways to understand environmental impacts | surveying and identifying aquatic macro-invertebrates to gauge the health of aquatic ecosystems | taking photographs of monitoring sites to visually track changes in waterway conditions over time | participating in community awareness campaigns, workshops, and clean-up days to promote waterway health and conservation efforts.
Compensation: volunteer
funding


$248 million over 4 years

Victorian Government

Outputs and impacts

publication/report/document

E. Nicholson; J. Ryan; D. Hodgkins, Community data - where does the value lie? Assessing confidence limits of community collected water quality data, Water Sci Technol (2002) 45 (11): 193–200. doi 10.2166/wst.2002.0395 (link)

Retrieved from "https://stardit.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=0202410220552&oldid=1120"