0202410220552
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:
0202410220552State ongoing
Start 1993-01-30
Form updated 2024-10-22
0009-0009-0065-3654
Main report author
Inputs
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (link)
Task: Managing the overall arrangement of the program
Catchment Management Authorities (link)
Task: Host Waterwatch Coordinators, and provide support and resources for local programs
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
$248 million over 4 years
Victorian Government
Outputs and impacts
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)