World Water Monitoring Day garners global response

Oct. 24, 2005

Event created by America's Clean Water Foundation and supported by International Water Association and ASIWPCA expected to draw support from as many as 80 nations to celebrate Oct. 18 international waterways monitoring program. Reports -- including from Nigeria and Macedonia -- already in from 30 countries, 48 states and 1,200 sites. Sampling ongoing until Dec. 18...

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 24, 2005 -- Just one week after World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) 2005, over 1,200 monitoring sites in 30 countries and 48 states in the U.S. have reported monitoring results to the WWMD Database. America's Clean Water Foundation (ACWF) the International Water Association (IWA) and the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA) anticipate from 7,500 -10,000 sites in as many as 80 nations once results are finally tallied in December.

The 2005 monitoring window for World Water Monitoring Day began on Sept. 18. Results from monitoring may be recorded anytime through Dec. 18.

From the initial reporting, the United States again leads in the number of reported sites, with other countries are coming on strong. For example, Taiwan is anticipating over 1,000 reporting sites; and new participants, including Burkina Faso on the African continent, are reporting results and sharing details of the events sponsored for students and other water monitors. .

Oct. 18, the anniversary of the enactment of the U.S. Clean Water Act in 1972, saw a number of WWMD celebrations, partners and sponsors conducted World Water Monitoring Day activities in their local communities. The Southern Company, Smithfield Foods, Toyota Corp. and CH2M Hill (the producer of the WWMD instructional DVD) held major events in communities around the world. The Girl Scouts of the USA, in collaboration with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) encouraged participation in WWMD by offering credits for the 'Linking Girls to the Land' patch. And, the USEPA, U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resource Conservation Service hosted dozens of events nationwide.

"Major WWMD celebrations were sponsored this year in Taiwan by the Ministry of Environment and Taiwan National University; in Washington, D.C., by ACWF and the Earth Conservation Corps, along with the IWA, CH2M Hill, Water Environment Federation, and ASIWPCA; in New Orleans by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana University Marine Consortium; in Phoenix by the US. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service; and in Cincinnati by the Ohio EPA and Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO)," said Roberta Savage, ACWF president and ASIWPCA executive director.

"Smithfield Foods and Toyota North America employees also invited citizens and students in their communities to join them in the water this year," she added. "In addition, major WWMD events were already held at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the St. Petersburg Pier Aquarium."

WWMD data is available on www.worldwatermonitoringday.org as it comes in. Final results and the 2005 Annual Report will be posted early in 2006.

About the Author: Edward H. Moyer is World Water Monitoring Day Coordinator at America's Clean Water Foundation. He can be contacted at: 202-746-8493, [email protected] or www.acwf.org.

Photos DSCN0218 and 411 are from Robbi's trip to Taiwan and 417180-r1-01-24 is from the event in Cincinnati, OH hosted by the OhioEPA and the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission. 417180-r2-13-12 is from the Phoenix, AZ WWMD event hosted by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA).

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