Extension
provides organizational support, technical guidance
on monitoring protocols and analyses – and most
importantly – connects monitoring groups to
a host of watershed assessment and protection activities
throughout New England. These Extension volunteer
water
quality monitoring programs improve understanding
of local water resources and encourage individual
and
community involvement in water quality protection
and restoration efforts.
New England is known for its spectacular rocky coastlines,
beautiful beaches, and reliance on the sea for marine
industries and tourism, not to mention a way of life
for many residents. Estuaries, partially enclosed water
bodies where freshwater from rivers and streams meets
and mixes with salt water from oceans and bays, are
among the most productive ecosystems in the world.
However, greater than half of the US population lives
within fifty miles of a coast, with increasing number
moving to coastal areas annually. In the collision
of people with nature, our natural systems are often
on the losing end. New England hosts a number of estuary
and coastal monitoring programs, often in partnership
with statewide to local agencies and organizations.
The New
England Regional Monitoring Collaborative (NERMC)
coordinates
the delivery of training and related services to volunteer
watershed monitoring groups in
New England.
The Great
Bay Coast Watch volunteers
monitor the water quality in NH’s
Great Bay and its tributaries. The program is supported
by the University
of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and
the NH
Sea Grant Programs
.
Accomplishment: Since 1990, coastal communities in
New Hampshire are better able to make informed decisions
because of the Great Bay Coast Watch volunteer participation
in the community.
The Maine
Shore Stewards Program associated
with the University
of Maine Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program has
successfully engaged citizen volunteers in environmental
monitoring along the Maine coast since 1988.
Accomplishment: One hundred thousand acres of clam
flats on the Maine coast were opened for harvest between
1990 and 2002 with the help of the Maine Shore Stewards.
The Massachusetts
Water Watch Partnership (MassWWP),
under the administration of the Water
Resources Research Center at
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Environmental
Institute ,
provides training and other technical assistance to
citizen organizations
that conduct water quality monitoring programs on the
lakes, rivers, and estuaries of Massachusetts. MassWWP
assists the Urban
Harbors Institute and
the Waquoit
Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in
their efforts to aid volunteer monitoring groups operating
in Massachusetts
Bay and its contributing watersheds.
The University
of Rhode Island Watershed Watch Program (URIWW)
of the URI Cooperative
Extension Water Quality Program has monitored coastal waterways
in RI since 1992 when its monitors started sampling
the Narrow River, a tidal river. URIWW monitoring has
extended into RI coastal ponds and surfing locations.
Accomplishment: The
purpose of monitoring on the Narrow River was to provide
long-term water quality information,
in particular to track improvements to the river as
sewering was extended through its watershed. URIWW
data on the Narrow River was used to update the Narrow
River Special Areas Management Plan and
incorporated into RI Dept. of Environmental Management’s
Fecal
Coliform TMDL
(Total Maximum Daily Load) for the Narrow River Watershed.
The National
Facilitation of CSREES Volunteer Monitoring Efforts
Project ,
a cooperative effort between the Universities of Rhode
Island and Wisconsin, built
a comprehensive support system for the 38 identified
Extension volunteer water quality monitoring efforts
across the country. This project researched (via an inquiry to
the Extension volunteer monitoring programs) programs’ beginnings,
training techniques, quality assurance measures, volunteer
support tools, outreach tools, and funding. This information
was synthesized into a Guide
for Growing Programs to
expand and strengthen the capacity of existing programs
and support the development of new programs.