Global participation in World Water Monitoring Day up 61% in 2007

ALEXANDRIA, VA, Feb. 22, 2008 -- More than 46,000 people worldwide visited their local streams, rivers, lakes and other water bodies in celebration of World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) in 2007, according to the program's Year in Review report released this week by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the International Water Association (IWA).

WWMD is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. The goal is to engage one million people in monitoring their local waterways by 2012.

Participants from Argentina to Zimbabwe tested their local waterways for four key water quality indicators: dissolved oxygen (DO), pH (acidity), temperature, and turbidity (clarity). Some groups also monitored for the presence of certain macroinvertebrates such as dragonflies, mayflies, and scuds. Samples were taken in a range of settings -- agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial -- on six continents.

A total of 46,117 people monitored sites worldwide, which represents a 61 percent increase over participation in 2006. Some participants acted as individuals while many took part with schools, universities, civic, environmental, and faith-based groups. Data was reported from 43 countries -- four more than the 39 logged in 2006. Sites in the United States accounted for approximately 63 percent of the 3,544 monitored worldwide. After the United States, Taiwan (444) and Spain (343) led global WWMD efforts in the number of sites monitored.

The coordinators of WWMD, WEF and IWA, would like to acknowledge the generous financial and in-kind support in 2007 from primary sponsors including the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PerkinElmer, ITT Corporation, CH2M HILL, and Smithfield Foods.

WWMD is officially observed each year on September 18th, which marks the beginning of a month-long period of water quality monitoring that ends on October 18th. Due to the high volume of participants in 2007, the monitoring period was extended until Dec. 18th. This date also served as the deadline for reporting data to the WWMD database for inclusion in the year-end report.

For a complete list of program partners, as well as more detailed statistics, please see the World Water Monitoring Day 2007 Year in Review, which is available online at www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.org.

Formed in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with more than 34,000 individual members and 81 affiliated Member Associations representing an additional 50,000 water quality professionals throughout the world.

The International Water Association (IWA) is a global network of water professionals that spans the continuum between research and practice, covering all facets of the water cycle.

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